Get list.files to read in a list of files in the same order as Windows

Question

Is there a way to list files in R as it is listed in Windows when sorted by "Name"?

For instance, say I have a Directory (henceforth "testDir") that has the following files:

Slide1_1.txt
Slide1_2.txt
Slide1_3.txt
Slide1_11.txt
Slide1_111.txt
Slide2_1.txt
Slide3_1.txt

If I do the following in R:

testFiles = list.files(path = testDir, full.names = F)

testFiles will have the following output:

> testFiles
"Slide1_1.txt"   "Slide1_11.txt"  "Slide1_111.txt" "Slide1_2.txt"   "Slide1_3.txt"  "Slide2_1.txt"   "Slide3_1.txt"

However, I would like it to be orderer as such:

"Slide1_1.txt"   "Slide1_2.txt"   "Slide1_3.txt"  "Slide1_11.txt"  "Slide1_111.txt" "Slide2_1.txt"   "Slide3_1.txt"

Is there another way of reading in these files? It should be noted that the timestamp for these files are not in any specific order.

EDIT: Added additional conditions to filenames

I should expand, the file names I'm specifically using are as such: Slide1_1, Slide1_2, Slide1_3, Slide1_11, Slide1_111, Slide2_1, Slide3_1. I will edit my main post to add additional details. — JCB, Feb 24 '15 at 18:40
looks like mixedsort works with the additional filenames. Thanks! — JCB, Feb 24 '15 at 18:48

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 24 '15 at 18:49

1

Try

library(gtools)
mixedsort(testFiles)
#[1] "Slide1_1.txt"   "Slide1_2.txt"   "Slide1_3.txt"   "Slide1_11.txt" 
#[5] "Slide1_111.txt" "Slide2_1.txt"   "Slide3_1.txt"

answered Feb 24 '15 at 18:49

akrun

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@JCB No problem, In case you need the order, there is `mixedorder` – akrun Feb 24 '15 at 18:51

Get list.files to read in a list of files in the same order as Windows

1 Answers1