gt_split() cannot be rendered in documents

[AlbertRapp]

Description

gt_split() works fine in RStudio's viewer panel but as soon as a document is rendered (like in a Quarto doc or when calling reprex::reprex()) it stops working.

Reproducible example

gt::metro |> 
  dplyr::slice(1:10) |> 
  gt::gt(id = 'afafgafgasfsd') |> 
  gt::gt_split(row_every_n = 5)
#> Error in if (is.na(table_id)) {: argument is of length zero
#> Calls: .main ... knit_print -> knit_print.gt_group -> as.tags.gt_tbl

^{Created on 2023-04-01 with reprex v2.0.2}

Expected result

Same output as in RStudio viewer.

Session info

Session info

sessioninfo::session_info()
#> ─ Session info ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>  setting  value
#>  version  R version 4.2.3 (2023-03-15)
#>  os       Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS
#>  system   x86_64, linux-gnu
#>  ui       X11
#>  language (EN)
#>  collate  en_US.UTF-8
#>  ctype    en_US.UTF-8
#>  tz       Europe/Berlin
#>  date     2023-04-01
#>  pandoc   2.19.2 @ /usr/lib/rstudio/resources/app/bin/quarto/bin/tools/ (via rmarkdown)
#> 
#> ─ Packages ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>  package     * version    date (UTC) lib source
#>  cli           3.6.1      2023-03-23 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.3)
#>  digest        0.6.31     2022-12-11 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.2)
#>  dplyr         1.1.1.9000 2023-04-01 [1] Github (tidyverse/dplyr@29307bf)
#>  evaluate      0.20       2023-01-17 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.2)
#>  fansi         1.0.4      2023-01-22 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.2)
#>  fastmap       1.1.1      2023-02-24 [3] CRAN (R 4.2.2)
#>  fs            1.6.1      2023-02-06 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.2)
#>  generics      0.1.3      2022-07-05 [3] CRAN (R 4.2.1)
#>  glue          1.6.2      2022-02-24 [3] CRAN (R 4.1.2)
#>  gt            0.9.0.9000 2023-04-01 [1] Github (rstudio/gt@e5fafbd)
#>  htmltools     0.5.5      2023-03-23 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.3)
#>  knitr         1.42       2023-01-25 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.2)
#>  lifecycle     1.0.3      2022-10-07 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.1)
#>  magrittr      2.0.3      2022-03-30 [3] CRAN (R 4.1.3)
#>  pillar        1.9.0      2023-03-22 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.3)
#>  pkgconfig     2.0.3      2019-09-22 [3] CRAN (R 4.0.0)
#>  purrr         1.0.1.9000 2023-03-15 [1] Github (tidyverse/purrr@fd5a732)
#>  R.cache       0.15.0     2021-04-30 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.0)
#>  R.methodsS3   1.8.2      2022-06-13 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.0)
#>  R.oo          1.25.0     2022-06-12 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.0)
#>  R.utils       2.11.0     2021-09-26 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.0)
#>  R6            2.5.1      2021-08-19 [3] CRAN (R 4.1.1)
#>  reprex        2.0.2      2022-08-17 [3] CRAN (R 4.2.1)
#>  rlang         1.1.0      2023-03-14 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.2)
#>  rmarkdown     2.21       2023-03-26 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.3)
#>  rstudioapi    0.14       2022-08-22 [3] CRAN (R 4.2.1)
#>  sessioninfo   1.2.2      2021-12-06 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.0)
#>  styler        1.9.0      2023-01-15 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.2)
#>  tibble        3.2.1      2023-03-20 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.3)
#>  tidyselect    1.2.0      2022-10-10 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.1)
#>  utf8          1.2.3      2023-01-31 [3] CRAN (R 4.2.2)
#>  vctrs         0.6.1.9000 2023-03-27 [1] Github (r-lib/vctrs@af29ad7)
#>  withr         2.5.0      2022-03-03 [3] CRAN (R 4.1.3)
#>  xfun          0.38       2023-03-24 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.3)
#>  xml2          1.3.3      2021-11-30 [3] CRAN (R 4.1.2)
#>  yaml          2.3.7      2023-01-23 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.2)
#> 
#>  [1] /home/albert/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/4.2
#>  [2] /usr/local/lib/R/site-library
#>  [3] /usr/lib/R/site-library
#>  [4] /usr/lib/R/library
#> 
#> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

[rich-iannone]

Thanks for identifying this bug so quickly! This very much needs fixing so it will be highly prioritized.

[AlbertRapp]

The problem seems to be in the print() function. I've created a workaround by modifying the last line of gt:::print.gt_group() , i.e. removing the print() call in

function (x, ..., view = interactive()) 
{
    html_tbls <- htmltools::tagList()
    seq_tbls <- seq_len(nrow(x$gt_tbls))
    for (i in seq_tbls) {
        html_tbl_i <- as.tags.gt_tbl(grp_pull(x, which = i), 
            ...)
        html_tbls <- htmltools::tagList(html_tbls, html_tbl_i, 
            if (i != max(seq_tbls)) 
                htmltools::HTML("<br />"))
    }
    print(html_tbls, browse = view, ...)
}
<bytecode: 0x5584b0c0ac70>
<environment: namespace:gt>

Then using the following code in a code chunk with output: asis makes the Quarto doc renderable:

my_print.gt_group <- function (x, ..., view = interactive()) 
{
    html_tbls <- htmltools::tagList()
    seq_tbls <- seq_len(nrow(x$gt_tbls))
    for (i in seq_tbls) {
        html_tbl_i <- gt:::as.tags.gt_tbl(grp_pull(x, which = i), 
            ...)
        html_tbls <- htmltools::tagList(html_tbls, html_tbl_i, 
            if (i != max(seq_tbls)) 
                htmltools::HTML("<br />"))
    }
    html_tbls
}

metro |> 
  dplyr::slice(1:10) |> 
  dplyr::select(name, passengers) |> 
  gt() |> 
  gt_split(row_every_n = 5) |> 
  my_print.gt_group()

[AlbertRapp]

I have investigated this a bit more and the minimal necessary fix is not dependent on the print() call but on the fact that as.tags.gt_tbl() cannot be accessed. Using the triple colon fixes that. So, using

html_tbl_i <- gt:::as.tags.gt_tbl(grp_pull(x, which = i), 

resolves the issue.

[AlbertRapp]

Ah I've realized that I've been working with the print and not the knit_print functions. So, I guess the workaround works because it enforces the print call that works anyway. As for the knit_print function. It looks like the issue is that it calls gt:::as.tags.gt_tbl() which starts with the lines

table_id <- dt_options_get_value(x, option = "table_id")
ihtml <- dt_options_get_value(x, option = "ihtml_active")
if (is.na(table_id)) {
        id <- random_id()
    }
    else {
        id <- table_id
    }

In the case of gt_groups both table_id and ihtml are NULL. Hence, you'd have to change is.na(table_id) to is.null(table_id). Otherwise, is.na() returns logical(0) which if() does not accept. Unfortunately, down the line there are more problems coming from the table_id and ihtml being NULL.

Maybe the easiest fix is to create a gt:::as.tags.gt_group() function that skips all the code that is not working? In any case, I hope my comments help you with your debugging. {gt} is a great project ☺️