delim2xts

Reads a delimited text file and returns an xts object with auto-detected timestamps. The date column is parsed via parse_date_time using a comprehensive set of order formats (ymd, dmy, mdy, and variants with hours, minutes, and seconds). When strict_step = TRUE, the function detects the regular time step from the first difference of parsed dates, constructs a complete index spanning the full date range, and fills missing positions with NA entries. Leap days (29 February) may be excluded from leap years via exc_leaps. A sentinel no-data value may be specified via no_value and replaced with NA. The resulting xts can optionally be saved to a tab-delimited text file.

Usage

delim2xts(
  file_path,
  time_zone,
  date_index = 1,
  strict_step = TRUE,
  delim = "\t",
  skip_rows = 0,
  col_names = TRUE,
  no_value = NA,
  exc_leaps = TRUE,
  save_Xts = FALSE,
  filename = NA
)

Arguments

file_path

Character. Path to the delimited data file.

time_zone

Character. Time zone for date parsing (e.g. "UTC").

date_index

Integer. Column position of the date/time variable. Default 1.

strict_step

Logical. If TRUE (default), gaps are filled with NA at the detected regular interval.

delim

Character. Field delimiter. Default "\t".

skip_rows

Integer. Number of header rows to skip. Default 0.

col_names

Logical. If TRUE (default), the first non-skipped row contains column names.

no_value

Value to be treated as missing (NA). Default NA.

exc_leaps

Logical. If TRUE (default), 29 February is excluded from leap years.

save_Xts

Logical. If TRUE, the xts is saved as a tab-delimited text file. Default FALSE.

filename

Character. Output filename (without extension) used when save_Xts = TRUE. Default NA.

Value

An xts object with parsed timestamps as the index and the remaining columns as the data matrix.

Examples

# Create a temporary delimited file
tf <- tempfile(fileext = ".csv")
writeLines(c("date,value", "2020-01-01,10.5", "2020-01-02,12.3",
             "2020-01-03,11.0", "2020-01-04,9.8"), tf)
x <- delim2xts(tf, time_zone = "UTC", delim = ",", strict_step = TRUE)
#> Time difference of 1 days
head(x)
#>            value
#> 2020-01-01  10.5
#> 2020-01-02  12.3
#> 2020-01-03  11.0
#> 2020-01-04   9.8