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Add or modify a variable

Jenny Bryan 2018-04-10

library(tidyverse)

Function to produce a fresh example data frame

new_df <- function() {
  tribble(
      ~ name, ~ age,
      "Reed",   14L,
    "Wesley",   12L,
       "Eli",   12L,
      "Toby",    1L
  )
}

The df$var <- ... syntax

How to create or modify a variable is a fairly low stakes matter, i.e. really a matter of taste. This is not a hill I plan to die on. But here’s my two cents.

Of course, df$var <- ... absolutely works for creating new variables or modifying existing ones. But there are downsides:

  • Silent recycling is a risk.
  • df is not special. It’s not the implied place to look first for things, so you must be explicit. This can be a drag.
  • I have aesthetic concerns. YMMV.
df <- new_df()
df$eyes <- 2L
df$snack <- c("chips", "cheese")
df$uname <- toupper(df$name)
df
#> # A tibble: 4 x 5
#>   name     age  eyes snack  uname 
#>   <chr>  <int> <int> <chr>  <chr> 
#> 1 Reed      14     2 chips  REED  
#> 2 Wesley    12     2 cheese WESLEY
#> 3 Eli       12     2 chips  ELI   
#> 4 Toby       1     2 cheese TOBY

dplyr::mutate() works “inside the box”

dplyr::mutate() is the tidyverse way to work on a variable. If I’m working in a script-y style and the tidyverse packages are already available, I generally prefer this method of adding or modifying a variable.

  • Only a length one input can be recycled.
  • df is the first place to look for things. It turns out that making a new variable out of existing variables is very, very common, so it’s nice when this is easy.
  • This is pipe-friendly, so I can easily combine with a few other logical data manipuluations that need to happen around the same point.
  • I like the way this looks. YMMV.
new_df() %>%
  mutate(
    eyes = 2L,
    snack = c("chips", "cheese"),
    uname = toupper(name)
  )
#> Error in mutate_impl(.data, dots): Column `snack` must be length 4 (the number of rows) or one, not 2

Oops! I did not provide enough snacks!

new_df() %>%
  mutate(
    eyes = 2L,
    snack = c("chips", "cheese", "mixed nuts", "nerf bullets"),
    uname = toupper(name)
  )
#> # A tibble: 4 x 5
#>   name     age  eyes snack        uname 
#>   <chr>  <int> <int> <chr>        <chr> 
#> 1 Reed      14     2 chips        REED  
#> 2 Wesley    12     2 cheese       WESLEY
#> 3 Eli       12     2 mixed nuts   ELI   
#> 4 Toby       1     2 nerf bullets TOBY