How to convert y%m%d%H format into “%Y%m%d %H:%M:%S” in time series data

Question

How do I convert the y%m%d%H format into \"%Y%m%d %H:%M:%S\". My dates run from 1970 to 2010.

Answer 1

Try this:

R> Sys.Date()
[1] "2012-07-23"
R> format(Sys.Date())
[1] "2012-07-23"
R> format(Sys.Date(), "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
[1] "2012-07-23 00:00:00"
R> 

as you probably have a Date type which, by definition, has no hour/minute/second information--use POSIXct for that. See help(DateTimeClasses) the details, and a bazillion posts here and on the various mailing lists with working examples.