Hey everyone, I’m pulling my hair out over here! I keep running into this weird problem when I try to write integer64 values from R to PostgreSQL. For some reason, the numbers are turning into scientific notation.
I’ve tested this on two setups:
- Windows 64-bit with R 3.5
- Ubuntu 64-bit with R 3.3
Most of the time (like 90%), I end up with scientific notation. For instance, 99999679872 becomes 1.9277322e-315. It’s driving me crazy!
Does anyone know a different library or method I could use to fix this? I really need these numbers to stay in their original format when they hit the database.
Any help would be super appreciated. Thanks in advance, folks!
I’ve encountered this issue before, and it can be quite frustrating. One solution that worked for me was using the ‘sqldf’ package in R. It allows you to execute SQL queries on R data frames and handles large integers well when writing to PostgreSQL.
Here’s a basic example of how you might use it:
library(sqldf)
library(RPostgreSQL)
drv <- dbDriver("PostgreSQL")
con <- dbConnect(drv, dbname="your_db", host="your_host", port=5432, user="your_user", password="your_password")
sqldf("CREATE TABLE your_table AS SELECT * FROM your_R_dataframe", connection = con)
dbDisconnect(con)
This approach bypasses R’s internal data type conversion and lets PostgreSQL handle the data types directly. It’s been reliable in preserving integer64 values without scientific notation in my experience. Give it a try and see if it resolves your issue.
As someone who’s dealt with similar issues, I can definitely relate to your frustration. In my experience, the key to solving this problem lies in explicitly specifying the data type when writing to PostgreSQL.
One approach that’s worked well for me is using the DBI package along with RPostgres. Here’s a snippet that might help:
library(DBI)
library(RPostgres)
con <- dbConnect(Postgres(), dbname = 'your_db')
dbWriteTable(con, 'your_table', your_data, field.types = list(your_column = 'BIGINT'))
dbDisconnect(con)
The ‘field.types’ parameter is crucial here. It tells PostgreSQL to treat the column as a BIGINT, which should preserve your integer64 values without scientific notation.
If you’re still having issues, you might want to check your PostgreSQL server settings. Some configurations can affect how numeric data is interpreted. Hope this helps!
hey, i’ve run into this too. it’s a pain! have u tried using the bit64 package? it might help. also, make sure ur PostgreSQL is set up to handle big integers. if all else fails, u could try converting to character strings before sending to the db. good luck!