Unexpected error in as_tibble() when rownames = is passed with implicit row names

[stufield]

The inconsistency arises in tibble v2.0.1 under the (I think) new arguments passed to as_tibble(), specifically when you wish to create a new "id" column from the existing row names of the object you are coercing. If that object, say a data frame, has default numeric character strings, as_tibble() throws an error saying that the object does not have rownames (but it does!). Additionally, if you explicitly add the rownames, this error is not thrown. Please see the reprex below:

library(tibble)
packageVersion("tibble")
#> [1] '2.0.1'
library(magrittr)
df <- data.frame(V = letters[1:5])
df
#>   V
#> 1 a
#> 2 b
#> 3 c
#> 4 d
#> 5 e
rownames(df)
#> [1] "1" "2" "3" "4" "5"

# Error thrown
df %>% as_tibble(rownames = "num_char")
#> Error: Object passed to `as_tibble()` must have row names if the `rownames` argument is set.

# If you explicetly generate rownames for `df`
# It `as_tibble() proceeds as expected
rownames(df) <- as.character(1:5)
rownames(df)
#> [1] "1" "2" "3" "4" "5"

# No error thrown
df %>% as_tibble(rownames = "num_char")
#> # A tibble: 5 x 2
#>   num_char V    
#>   <chr>    <fct>
#> 1 1        a    
#> 2 2        b    
#> 3 3        c    
#> 4 4        d    
#> 5 5        e

^{Created on 2019-01-28 by the reprex package (v0.2.1)}

Session info

devtools::session_info()
#> ─ Session info ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>  setting  value                       
#>  version  R version 3.5.2 (2018-12-20)
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#>  system   x86_64, darwin15.6.0        
#>  ui       X11                         
#>  language (EN)                        
#>  collate  en_US.UTF-8                 
#>  ctype    en_US.UTF-8                 
#>  tz       America/Denver              
#>  date     2019-01-28                  
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#> 
#> [1] /Users/sfield/r_libs
#> [2] /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/3.5/Resources/library

[krlmlr]

Thanks. Looks like this has been added in #388, the old behavior was plain wrong.

In your example, df doesn't have explicit row names, they are created on request. I don't mind changing the behavior to use implicit row names in this situation, would you like to do a PR (against the r-2.0 branch please)?

[stufield]

I think I understand. This error makes more sense for as_tibble.matrix() when there are no rownames, but I agree with you that data frames are different. From #388, it looks like the problem might be that as_tibble.matrix() coerces to a data frame and then calls as_tibble.data.frame().

Happy to try a PR, but to clarify, you mean you want me to create my issue-branch based on the branch r-2.0? Or is it all about where I push to when creating the PR?

[krlmlr]

Thanks. Please base off of the r-2.0 branch and also submit the PR against that branch.

[stufield]

I'm ready to submit, but left some commented lines in this commit in case we need some back and forth prior to merging. If you agree with my fixes, I will clean up and push again, ok?

[stufield]

Hi. Which branch would you like me to base from and PR against? It appears the the r-2.0 branch is now stale (deleted?). So I think it's easiest if I start from scratch, re-fork, and re-submit. Just let me know your preference for the home branch. Thanks!

[krlmlr]

Thanks. I've moved to master for now, r-2.0 is dead. Sorry for the confusion, working on an unplanned intermediate release.

[stufield]

No problem. Shall I branch off master and submit a PR to it or hold off altogether until after the unplanned release? Just let me know.

[krlmlr]

This fell through the cracks. Would you still like to submit a PR?

[stufield]

Sure I'd be happy to. Just gimme some time to remember what this was all about, re-fork the upstream repo, etc. Still want me to branch off master?

[krlmlr]

Thanks, master is the right branch.

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