Feature request: allow variable as the end of a chain

[tmalsburg]

It would be convenient to be able to pipe the results of a processing chain into a variable as in the following example:

mtcars %>%
  filter(mpg > median(mpg)) %>%
  efficient.cars

Currently this produces an error (could not find function "efficient.cars") but I think it would be very useful if we were able to do this. There is a simple fix,

mtcars %>%
  filter(mpg > median(mpg)) ->
  efficient.cars

but this means that I often have to switch -> and %>% during development (every time, the last step in a chain changes) and this creates unnecessary friction.

I think it would be logically consistent to allow piping into a variable since we also can pipe from a variable. Thanks for considering this and sorry if this has been discussed previously.

[tmalsburg]

Context: http://www.win-vector.com/blog/2016/12/the-case-for-using-in-r/

[klmr]

I think this belongs in magrittr not dplyr. At any rate it isn’t currently possible because of the reason stated in the error message: if the last identifier in a pipe chain is a name, it’s interpreted as a function name. That is, … %>% foo is equivalent to … %>% foo().