df <- data.frame(name=c("Hans", "Dieter", "Peter"), age=c(25,26,27), stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
chr_idx <- sapply(df, is.character)
df[chr_idx] <- lapply(df[chr_idx], gsub, pattern='a', replacement='e', fixed=TRUE)
df
str(df)
ZGYgPC0gZGF0YS5mcmFtZShuYW1lPWMoIkhhbnMiLCAiRGlldGVyIiwgIlBldGVyIiksIGFnZT1jKDI1LDI2LDI3KSwgc3RyaW5nc0FzRmFjdG9ycz1GQUxTRSkKY2hyX2lkeCA8LSBzYXBwbHkoZGYsIGlzLmNoYXJhY3RlcikKZGZbY2hyX2lkeF0gPC0gbGFwcGx5KGRmW2Nocl9pZHhdLCBnc3ViLCBwYXR0ZXJuPSdhJywgcmVwbGFjZW1lbnQ9J2UnLCBmaXhlZD1UUlVFKQpkZgpzdHIoZGYp