as.numeric function bug problem

[oktayozden]

Hi everyone,
I define discount rate variable as numeric. When i use this code
"a$DiscountRate<-as.numeric(a$DiscountRate)", null values turn into 3692 value. There are images below. How can i solve this problem. I tried to define null variables as 0.

this function does not work.
a$DiscountRate[is.null(a$DiscountRate)]=0

I tried to convers nulls into na by using this:
a$DiscountRate<-a$DiscountRate %>% replace(.=="NULL", NA)
a$DiscountRate[is.na(a$DiscountRate)]=0

After i define all null as 0 with this last operation, when i use this function:
a$DiscountRate<-as.numeric(a$DiscountRate)

zero values turn again into values as 3692

Thank you for your time

[williaml]

Can you provide a reproducible example instead of a screenshot?

FAQ: What's a reproducible example (`reprex`) and how do I create one?

Why reprex? Getting unstuck is hard. Your first step here is usually to create a reprex, or reproducible example. The goal of a reprex is to package your code, and information about your problem so that others can run it and feel your pain. Then, hopefully, folks can more easily provide a solution. What's in a Reproducible Example? Parts of a reproducible example: background information - Describe what you are trying to do. What have you already done? complete set up - include any library() calls and data to reproduce your issue. data for a reprex: Here's a discussion on setting up data for a reprex make it run - include the minimal code required to reproduce your error on the data…

[nirgrahamuk]

It seems that your data begins life as a factor, and so its dangerous to cast with as.numeric probably need to convert to a character representation first.

a<-list()

a$DiscountRate <- c("1",".5","3.3","NULL","5")

a$DiscountRate2 <- factor(a$DiscountRate)

a$DiscountRate3 <- as.numeric(a$DiscountRate2)

a$DiscountRate4 <- as.numeric(a$DiscountRate)

> a
$DiscountRate
[1] "1"    ".5"   "3.3"  "NULL" "5"   

$DiscountRate2
[1] 1    .5   3.3  NULL 5   
Levels: .5 1 3.3 5 NULL

$DiscountRate3
[1] 2 1 3 5 4

$DiscountRate4
[1] 1.0 0.5 3.3  NA 5.0