How to write a function in R where one of the inputs is meant to go in quotation marks? (" ")

Let’s take this hypothetical code for instance:

```{r}
dataset_custom <- function(top, dataset, variable) {
 {{dataset}} %>%
  count({{variable}}) %>%
  top_n(top, n) %>%
  arrange(-n) %>%
  left_join({{dataset}}, by = "{{variable}}")
}
```

I know this will return an error when I try to run (say) dataset_custom(5, dataset, variable) because of the by = "{{variable}}" in left_join. How do I get around this issue?

I know that when you left join and you want to join it by a particular variable, you do by = "variable" where variable has quotations around it, but how do I do it when I write it as a function and I want the stuff in the quotations to change as depending on the input to the function I’m trying to create?

Thank you!

>Solution :

It is useful if you provide some toy data, like the one found in the example of ?left_join. Note that left_join(df1, df1) is just df1. Instead, we can use a 2nd data argument.

df1 <- tibble(x = 1:3, y = c("a", "a", "b"))
df2 <- tibble(x = c(1, 1, 2), z = c("first", "second", "third"))
df1 %>% left_join(df2, by = "x")

f <- function(data, data2, variable) {
  var <- deparse(substitute(variable))
  data %>%
    count({{ variable }}) %>%
    arrange(-n) %>%
    left_join(data2, by = var)
}

f(df1, df2, x)
      x     n z     
  <dbl> <int> <chr> 
1     1     1 first 
2     1     1 second
3     2     1 third 
4     3     1 NA 

# and
f(df2, df1, x)
      x     n y    
  <dbl> <int> <chr>
1     1     2 a    
2     2     1 a

for this to work we need to use defusing operations so that the input is evaluated correctly. Figuratively speaking, using {{ }} as the by argument is like using a hammer instead of sandpaper for polishing things – it is a forcing operation where none should happen.

Leave a Reply