Replace Strings in R using str_replace

3rd party packages

library(stringr)
library(readr)
library(dplyr)

Read in Data

head(df)

## # A tibble: 6 x 4
##   id                   dateAdded           dateUpdated         address          
##   <chr>                <dttm>              <dttm>              <chr>            
## 1 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 2016-10-30 21:42:42 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia Cir
## 2 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 2016-10-30 21:42:42 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia Cir
## 3 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 2016-10-30 21:42:42 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia Cir
## 4 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 2015-11-28 19:19:35 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd   
## 5 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 2015-11-28 19:19:35 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd   
## 6 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 2015-11-28 19:19:35 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd

Replace the first pattern in a single column

df1 <- df %>% mutate(dateAdded = str_replace(string = dateAdded, pattern = "-",replacement = "."))
head(df1)

## # A tibble: 6 x 4
##   id                   dateAdded           dateUpdated         address          
##   <chr>                <chr>               <dttm>              <chr>            
## 1 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 2016.10-30 21:42:42 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia Cir
## 2 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 2016.10-30 21:42:42 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia Cir
## 3 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 2016.10-30 21:42:42 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia Cir
## 4 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 2015.11-28 19:19:35 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd   
## 5 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 2015.11-28 19:19:35 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd   
## 6 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 2015.11-28 19:19:35 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd

Replace all with set pattern in a single column

df2 <- df %>% mutate(dateAdded = str_replace_all(string = dateAdded, pattern = "-",replacement = "."))
head(df2)

## # A tibble: 6 x 4
##   id                   dateAdded           dateUpdated         address          
##   <chr>                <chr>               <dttm>              <chr>            
## 1 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 2016.10.30 21:42:42 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia Cir
## 2 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 2016.10.30 21:42:42 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia Cir
## 3 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 2016.10.30 21:42:42 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia Cir
## 4 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 2015.11.28 19:19:35 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd   
## 5 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 2015.11.28 19:19:35 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd   
## 6 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 2015.11.28 19:19:35 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd

Replace multiple patterns in a single column

df3 <- df %>% mutate(dateAdded = str_replace_all(string = dateAdded, pattern = "[-:]",replacement = "hey"))
head(df3)

## # A tibble: 6 x 4
##   id                 dateAdded               dateUpdated         address        
##   <chr>              <chr>                   <dttm>              <chr>          
## 1 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfp… 2016hey10hey30 21hey42… 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia …
## 2 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfp… 2016hey10hey30 21hey42… 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia …
## 3 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfp… 2016hey10hey30 21hey42… 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia …
## 4 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUft… 2015hey11hey28 19hey19… 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd 
## 5 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUft… 2015hey11hey28 19hey19… 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd 
## 6 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUft… 2015hey11hey28 19hey19… 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd

Remove muliple patterns in a single colomn

df4 <- df %>% mutate(dateAdded = str_replace_all(string = dateAdded, pattern = "[-:]",replacement = ""))
head(df4)

## # A tibble: 6 x 4
##   id                   dateAdded       dateUpdated         address          
##   <chr>                <chr>           <dttm>              <chr>            
## 1 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 20161030 214242 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia Cir
## 2 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 20161030 214242 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia Cir
## 3 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 20161030 214242 2018-09-10 21:06:27 5921 Valencia Cir
## 4 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 20151128 191935 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd   
## 5 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 20151128 191935 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd   
## 6 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 20151128 191935 2018-09-10 21:06:16 7520 Teague Rd

Remove a single pattern in the full datafame

df5 <- data.frame(lapply(df, function(x) {
               str_replace_all(x, "-", "HELP")
                }))
head(df5)

##                     id                 dateAdded               dateUpdated
## 1 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 2016HELP10HELP30 21:42:42 2018HELP09HELP10 21:06:27
## 2 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 2016HELP10HELP30 21:42:42 2018HELP09HELP10 21:06:27
## 3 AVwc252WIN2L1WUfpqLP 2016HELP10HELP30 21:42:42 2018HELP09HELP10 21:06:27
## 4 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 2015HELP11HELP28 19:19:35 2018HELP09HELP10 21:06:16
## 5 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 2015HELP11HELP28 19:19:35 2018HELP09HELP10 21:06:16
## 6 AVwdOclqIN2L1WUfti38 2015HELP11HELP28 19:19:35 2018HELP09HELP10 21:06:16
##             address
## 1 5921 Valencia Cir
## 2 5921 Valencia Cir
## 3 5921 Valencia Cir
## 4    7520 Teague Rd
## 5    7520 Teague Rd
## 6    7520 Teague Rd