Output html from function during knitr output - html

Question

This is a small sample of many separate analyses I want to run together, flagging each analysis with a heading generated in the function. The first heading outputs as expected, but the headings generated by the function do not. How can I get the headings generated by the function to format as html?
R version 3.3.2 (2016-10-31)
Platform: x86_64-apple-darwin13.4.0 (64-bit)
Running under: OS X El Capitan 10.11.6
RStudio 1.0.136
knitr 1.15.1
```{r initialize, echo=F, comment=NA}
htmPrint = function(htm) {
structure(htm, class='knit_asis')
}
doAnalysis = function(dat, depVar, indVar) {
print(htmPrint(paste0('<h3>AusMCP1 on ', indVar, '</h3>')))
eval(parse(text=paste0('print(summary(lm(', depVar, '~', indVar, ', data=dat)))')))
print(htmPrint('<hr>'))
}
demoData = data.frame(dep1=rnorm(100), dep2=rnorm(100), ind1=runif(100), ind2=runif(100), ind3=runif(100))
varDep = names(demoData)[1:2]
varInd = names(demoData)[3:5]
```
This is a small sample of many separate analyses I want to run together, flagging each analysis with a heading generated in the function.
I could use *results=asis* in the chunk command, but it produces
unwanted formatting and extraneous output in the analysis output.
```{r doAnalyses}
htmPrint('<h2>Begin analyses</h2>')
for (k in 1:length(varDep)) for (i in 1:length(varInd)) doAnalysis(demoData, varDep[k], varInd[i])
```

Answer 1

I think you'll have to use results = 'asis' and just alter you function to get the output that you want. I'm going to use some methods referenced in a previous question that make use of the package pander.
You don't have to use your htmPrint function as you can get the same functionality with cat and html tags. Then you'd just use print_lm instead of print and remove the summary, since you're getting nice tabular output.
```{r initialize, echo=F, comment=NA}
library(pander)
#Use the pander print method to print the model tables.
#You could use other package print methods as well.
print_lm <- function (x, ...) UseMethod("pander")
doAnalysis = function(dat, depVar, indVar) {
cat('<h3>AusMCP1 on ', indVar, '</h3>')
eval(parse(text=paste0('print_lm(summary(lm(', depVar, '~', indVar, ', data=dat)))')))
cat('<hr>')
}
demoData = data.frame(dep1=rnorm(100), dep2=rnorm(100), ind1=runif(100), ind2=runif(100), ind3=runif(100))
varDep = names(demoData)[1:2]
varInd = names(demoData)[3:5]
```
I use *results=asis* and changed the output of your doAnalysis function to create formatted output.
```{r doAnalyses, echo = FALSE, results='asis'}
cat('<h2>Begin analyses</h2>')
for (k in 1:length(varDep)) for (i in 1:length(varInd)) doAnalysis(demoData, varDep[k], varInd[i])
```
You could also do all of the modelling beforehand, and use the broom package to tidy all of your model summaries to your liking, then print them out using kable() or tabular print method of your choice.