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Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center
RDS (.rds)
  • See Also
    • Import
    • CloudImport

    • Formats
    • RData
    • MAT
    • HDF5
    • SAS7BDAT
    • XPORT
    • DTA
    • POR
    • SAV
  • Related Guides
    • Importing & Exporting
    • Listing of All Formats
    • Numerical Data Formats
    • See Also
      • Import
      • CloudImport

      • Formats
      • RData
      • MAT
      • HDF5
      • SAS7BDAT
      • XPORT
      • DTA
      • POR
      • SAV
    • Related Guides
      • Importing & Exporting
      • Listing of All Formats
      • Numerical Data Formats
IMPORT/EXPORT FORMAT
  • See Also
    • Import
    • CloudImport

    • Formats
    • RData
    • MAT
    • HDF5
    • SAS7BDAT
    • XPORT
    • DTA
    • POR
    • SAV
  • Related Guides
    • Importing & Exporting
    • Listing of All Formats
    • Numerical Data Formats
    • See Also
      • Import
      • CloudImport

      • Formats
      • RData
      • MAT
      • HDF5
      • SAS7BDAT
      • XPORT
      • DTA
      • POR
      • SAV
    • Related Guides
      • Importing & Exporting
      • Listing of All Formats
      • Numerical Data Formats

RDS (.rds)

  • Import supports the RDS format.

Background & Context

    • R data format.
    • Stores a single typed object.
    • Supports ASCII, binary and XDR (big-endian binary) representations.
    • Supports GZIP, BZIP2 and XZ compressions.
    • Released in 1995 with an initial version of R.

Import

  • Import["file.rds"] imports an RDS file as a single table of data.
  • Imported RDS is represented in the Wolfram Language by real or integer numbers, strings, Boolean values True and False, and DateObject specifications.
  • Import["file.rds",elements] imports the specified elements.
  • Import["file.rds",{elem,suba,subb,…}] imports a subelement.
  • The import format can be specified with Import["file","RDS"] or Import["file",{"RDS",elem,…}].
  • Import supports the following data types:
  • "Boolean"Booleans
    "Date"dates as a list of DateObject objects
    "Integer32"32-bit integers
    "Real64"IEEE double‐precision numbers
    "String"string of characters
    "Timestamp"time instances
  • See the following reference pages for full general information:
  • Importimport from a file
    CloudImportimport from a cloud object
    ImportStringimport from a string
    ImportByteArrayimport from a byte array

Import Elements

  • General Import elements:
  • "Elements" list of elements and options available in this file
    "Summary"summary of the file
    "Rules"list of rules for all available elements
  • Data representation elements:
  • "Data"two-dimensional array
    "Dataset"table data as a Dataset
    "LabeledData"association of labels and data
    "RawData"raw data given as lists or NumericArray objects
    "Tabular"table data as a Tabular object
  • Import by default uses the "Data" element.
  • Data descriptor elements:
  • "DataFormat"descriptions and types of columns
    "Labels"names of columns
  • Metadata elements:
  • "Dimensions"dimensions of the data
    "Version"version of the RDS specification for the file

Examples

open all close all

Basic Examples  (2)

Import an RDS file:

Summary of an RDS file:

Import Elements  (8)

Data Representation  (4)

"Data"  (1)

Import an RDS file as lists of values:

This is also the default element:

"LabeledData"  (1)

Import an RDS file as rules of labels and data:

"RawData"  (1)

Import an RDS file as data given as lists or NumericArray objects:

"Tabular"  (1)

Import an RDS file as lists of labels and Dataset objects:

Data Descriptors  (2)

"DataFormat"  (1)

Import the data type of each object in an RDS file:

"Labels"  (1)

Import the names of each column in an RDS file:

Metadata  (2)

"Dimensions"  (1)

Import the dimensions of each column in an RDS file:

"Version"  (1)

Import the version of an RDS file:

See Also

Import  CloudImport

Formats: RData  MAT  HDF5  SAS7BDAT  XPORT  DTA  POR  SAV

Related Guides

    ▪
  • Importing & Exporting
  • ▪
  • Listing of All Formats
  • ▪
  • Numerical Data Formats

History

Introduced in 2024 (14.0) | Updated in 2025 (14.2)

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