is.numeric(NA) is.numeric(as.numeric(NA) ) inp= a inp= "a" inp <- inp[!is.na(inp)] inp !is.na(inp) is.na(inp) inp gsub(pattern = (/D)), replacement= 3) gsub(pattern = ("[/D)"), replacement= 3) gsub(pattern = inp("[/D)"), replacement= 3) list.files list.files()