Convert string to a variable name

assign is what you are looking for.

assign("x", 5)

x
[1] 5

but buyer beware.

See R FAQ 7.21 http://cran.r-project.org/doc/FAQ/R-FAQ.html#How-can-I-turn-a-string-into-a-variable_003f

You can use do.call:

 do.call("<-",list(parameter_name, parameter_value))

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