Convert HTML tables to R data frame

Question

<TABLE  cellspacing=1 cellpadding=7 rules=all frame=Box border=1>
<thead>
<TR>
 <TD ROWSPAN=2 ALIGN=CENTER VALIGN=CENTER>&nbsp;</TD>
 <TD COLSPAN=6 ALIGN=CENTER>1a. My peers make a positive impact my work environment.</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=CENTER>Number</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD ALIGN=CENTER>Strongly agree  <br>         </TD>
 <TD ALIGN=CENTER>Generally agree <br>         </TD>
 <TD ALIGN=CENTER>Neither agree nor<br>disagree</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=CENTER>Generally disagree<br>       </TD>
 <TD ALIGN=CENTER>Strongly disagree<br>        </TD>
 <TD ALIGN=CENTER>No basis to judge<br>        </TD>
 <TD ALIGN=CENTER>of Cases</TD>
</TR>
</thead>
<tbody>
<TR>
 <TD ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP>  Company-Wide                                     </TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>        44.1</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>        44.9</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         6.6</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         2.6</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         1.6</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         0.1</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>   2,014</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP> Region 1                                 </TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>        45.6</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>        45.2</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         5.7</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         2.1</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         1.4</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         0.1</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>   1,699</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP>Division 1            </TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>        52.9</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>        39.7</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         4.1</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         2.5</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         0.8</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>0</TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>     121</TD>
</TR>
</tbody>
</TABLE>
<hr><A NAME="IDX1">&nbsp;</A>

I have an HTML file that contains several tables of the sort above. I would like to convert them into a data frame where each survey question, currently in the table header, would appear in a column. The percent responding to each question would remain in a column, as would the response levels. Not all questions have the same number of responses (i.e. some are on a five point scale, others are on a nine point scale). I tried readHTMLTable and then do.call rbind on that result, but cannot obtain the data frame of interest because the number of columns is not identical. I welcome any advice on how to proceed. thanks!

edit:

library(xml)
library(dplyr)
questions<-readHTMLTable(files[8], trim=T, as.data.frame=T, header=T)
data<-bind_rows(questions)

Results in the data frame I want, but because some questions have more response levels than others, the "number of cases" data does not consistently appear in one column. Is there a way for me to name the last column of each table before merging?

Answer 1

You can use the rvest package for this. However, it might be necessary to pay attention to column names with white spaces. I used the option fill=TRUE as a quick fix, but maybe this can be done in a better way.

library(rvest)
my_df <- as.data.frame(read_html(text) %>% html_table(fill=TRUE))
> my_df
#              X1                                                       X2                        X3                 X4                X5                X6       X7     X8
#1                1a. My peers make a positive impact my work environment.                      <NA>               <NA>              <NA>              <NA>     <NA> Number
#2 Strongly agree                                          Generally agree Neither agree nordisagree Generally disagree Strongly disagree No basis to judge of Cases   <NA>
#3   Company-Wide                                                     44.1                      44.9                6.6               2.6               1.6      0.1  2,014
#4       Region 1                                                     45.6                      45.2                5.7               2.1               1.4      0.1  1,699
#5     Division 1                                                     52.9                      39.7                4.1               2.5               0.8        0    121

Concerning the data, I copy-pasted the html code from the OP and assigned it to the variable text with text <- '<TABLE cellspacing=1 cellpadding=7 rules=all frame=...', using single quotation marks.

Some details of the format can be corrected afterwards in a rather simple way:

my_df[2,] <- c("",my_df[2,][-length(my_df)])
#> my_df
#            X1                                                       X2              X3                        X4                 X5                X6                X7       X8
#1              1a. My peers make a positive impact my work environment.            <NA>                      <NA>               <NA>              <NA>              <NA>   Number
#2                                                        Strongly agree Generally agree Neither agree nordisagree Generally disagree Strongly disagree No basis to judge of Cases
#3 Company-Wide                                                     44.1            44.9                       6.6                2.6               1.6               0.1    2,014
#4     Region 1                                                     45.6            45.2                       5.7                2.1               1.4               0.1    1,699
#5   Division 1                                                     52.9            39.7                       4.1                2.5               0.8                 0      121

Essentially, in this case the entries of the second row should be shifted to the right by one cell.

data

text <- '<TABLE  cellspacing=1 cellpadding=7 rules=all frame=Box border=1>\n  <thead>\n  <TR>\n  <TD ROWSPAN=2 ALIGN=CENTER VALIGN=CENTER>&nbsp;</TD>\n    <TD COLSPAN=6 ALIGN=CENTER>1a. My peers make a positive impact my work environment.</TD>\n      <TD ALIGN=CENTER>Number</TD>\n        </TR>\n        <TR>\n        <TD ALIGN=CENTER>Strongly agree  <br>         </TD>\n          <TD ALIGN=CENTER>Generally agree <br>         </TD>\n            <TD ALIGN=CENTER>Neither agree nor<br>disagree</TD>\n              <TD ALIGN=CENTER>Generally disagree<br>       </TD>\n                <TD ALIGN=CENTER>Strongly disagree<br>        </TD>\n                  <TD ALIGN=CENTER>No basis to judge<br>        </TD>\n                    <TD ALIGN=CENTER>of Cases</TD>\n                      </TR>\n                      </thead>\n                      <tbody>\n                      <TR>\n                      <TD ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP>  Company-Wide                                     </TD>\n                        <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>        44.1</TD>\n                          <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>        44.9</TD>\n                            <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         6.6</TD>\n                              <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         2.6</TD>\n                                <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         1.6</TD>\n                                  <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         0.1</TD>\n                                    <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>   2,014</TD>\n                                      </TR>\n                                      <TR>\n                                      <TD ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP> Region 1                                 </TD>\n                                        <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>        45.6</TD>\n                                          <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>        45.2</TD>\n                                            <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         5.7</TD>\n                                              <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         2.1</TD>\n                                                <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         1.4</TD>\n                                                  <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         0.1</TD>\n                                                    <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>   1,699</TD>\n                                                      </TR>\n                                                      <TR>\n                                                      <TD ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP>Division 1            </TD>\n                                                        <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>        52.9</TD>\n                                                          <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>        39.7</TD>\n                                                            <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         4.1</TD>\n                                                              <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         2.5</TD>\n                                                                <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>         0.8</TD>\n                                                                  <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>0</TD>\n                                                                    <TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM>     121</TD>\n                                                                      </TR>\n                                                                      </tbody>\n                                                                      </TABLE>\n                                                                      <hr><A NAME=\"IDX1\">&nbsp;</A>'
#> class(text)
#[1] "character"