Users can use the function ta.data.frame() to create a virtual data frame from an existing table or a SELECT query.
This example creates a virtual data frame "tadf_women" from the existing Aster Database table "women_ht_wt".
> tadf_women<-ta.data.frame('women_ht_wt') > class(tadf_women) [1] "ta.data.frame"
Users can manipulate the virtual data frame "tadf_women" using Aster R functions.
In addition, the functions ta.vector() and ta.factor() are available to represent a single column in a table. And the functions as.ta.vector() and as.ta.factor() are available to convert an existing single-column virtual data frame to a ta.vector or ta.factor object.