Read csv file with hidden or invisible character ^M

Question

I am attempting unsuccessfully to read a *.csv file containing hidden or invisible characters. The file contents are shown here:

my.data2 <- read.table(text          


        

Answer 1

In gVim you should be able to remove the ^M characters by typing the following:

:%s/VM//g

If you've typed it in correctly it will look like ':%s/^M//g' in gVim. When you press return, gVim searches (the 's') for what's between the first and second slash and replaces it with what's between the second and third slash, globally (the 'g').

NOTE: If you are on a Windows box and V seems to be pasting text, then gVim may be configured with 'windows behavior'. In that case, use QM instead of VM.

When I load your sample file into gVim 7.3, it looks like this:

After typing the characters

:%s/VM//g

but BEFORE hitting return I see this:

After hitting return I see this:

You can then do File->Save or File->Save As, which do what you would expect.