A more generic solution for might be the following.
extendDf <- function (df, n) {
withFactors <- sum(sapply (df, function(X) (is.factor(X)) )) > 0
nr <- nrow (df)
colNames <- names(df)
for (c in 1:length(colNames)) {
if (is.factor(df[,c])) {
col <- vector (mode='character', length = nr+n)
col[1:nr] <- as.character(df[,c])
col[(nr+1):(n+nr)]<- rep(col[1], n) # to avoid extra levels
col <- as.factor(col)
} else {
col <- vector (mode=mode(df[1,c]), length = nr+n)
class(col) <- class (df[1,c])
col[1:nr] <- df[,c]
}
if (c==1) {
newDf <- data.frame (col ,stringsAsFactors=withFactors)
} else {
newDf[,c] <- col
}
}
names(newDf) <- colNames
newDf
}
The function extendDf() extends a data frame with n rows.
As an example:
aDf <- data.frame (l=TRUE, i=1L, n=1, c='a', t=Sys.time(), stringsAsFactors = TRUE)
extendDf (aDf, 2)
# l i n c t
# 1 TRUE 1 1 a 2016-07-06 17:12:30
# 2 FALSE 0 0 a 1970-01-01 01:00:00
# 3 FALSE 0 0 a 1970-01-01 01:00:00
system.time (eDf <- extendDf (aDf, 100000))
# user system elapsed
# 0.009 0.002 0.010
system.time (eDf <- extendDf (eDf, 100000))
# user system elapsed
# 0.068 0.002 0.070