R: Adding '+' in front of 'positive' characters

Question

I'm trying to add a '+' symbol to show a percent increase in numbers that were made into characters in order to add a % sign in front of all of them. Here is some sample data:

###Create Data
First.Name <- c("Sharon", "Megan", "Kevin")
ProjManagment <- c(5, 7,3)
ClientManagment <- c(3,6,2)
StatProgram <- c(2,3,7)
jobForm = data.frame(First.Name, ProjManagment, ClientManagment, StatProgram)

And the code to make them into percentages:

as.character(jobForm[2:4])
jobForm[2:4] <- lapply(jobForm[2:4], function(x) paste(x, "%"))

I have tried to do this:

jobForm[32:39] <- lapply(jobForm[32:39]) function(x) if(strsplit(x[0] != "-")) {paste("+", x)}

and this from a previously posted question:

jobForm[32:39] <- lapply(jobForm[32:39], function(x, ...)
{
  if (x[1] != "-")
  {
    sprintf(
      fmt = "+ %s",
      format(x, ...)
    )
  }
  else
  {
    x
  }
})

But none have worked. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you

Answer 1

No need for an if/else condition here. You can simply use sprintf with the format specifiers "%+d" or %+f; e.g.

jobForm[2:4] <- lapply(jobForm[2:4], function(x) sprintf("%+3d %%", x))
#  First.Name ProjManagment ClientManagment StatProgram
#1     Sharon          +5 %            +3 %        +2 %
#2      Megan          +7 %            +6 %        +3 %
#3      Kevin          +3 %            +2 %        +7 %

Explanation: Let's break down the format specifier "%+3d": The + flag adds a leading plus, 3 specifies three integer digits, and d (f) specifies an integer (float). We escape the percentage sign inside sprintf by doubling it.

A minimal example to further demonstrate

x <- c(0.0, -3.2, 4.2)
sprintf("%+3d %%", x)
#[1] " +0 %" " -3 %" " +4 %"

sprintf("%+3.1f %%", x)
#[1] "+0.0 %" "-3.2 %" "+4.2 %"