Can i use gsub function to find a pattern and replace it by 2 different patterns?

Question

I need help with finding a pattern and replacing it by two different ways. For example, the word "Code/i" should be replaced with "Code, Codi".

What code should I use in replacement to get two results separated by comma? I am new to R and assuming some metacharacters or regex needs to be used? Also, i need to use base functions and no external packages. Appreciate any feedback and help as im stuck! Thanks

a <- c("Code/i", "Karina")

gsub(pattern = "/i", replacement= "", a)

Desired outcome:

"Code, Codi, Karina"

Answer 1

You can use sub and paste0 and subset your vector a on the relevant values (those that contain the pattern /):

Data:

a <- c("Code/i", "Karina", "Jimmy", "John Bolton", "Pete/i")

Solution:

c(paste0(sub("/.*", "", a[grepl("/", a)]), ", ", sub("./", "", a[grepl("/", a)])), a[!grepl("/", a)])

Result:

[1] "Code, Codi"  "Pete, Peti"  "Karina"      "Jimmy"       "John Bolton"