x <- 1:50
case_when(
x %% 35 == 0 ~ "fizz buzz",
x %% 5 == 0 ~ "fizz",
x %% 7 == 0 ~ "buzz",
TRUE ~ as.character(x)
)
# Like an if statement, the arguments are evaluated in order, so you must
# proceed from the most specific to the most general. This won't work:
case_when(
TRUE ~ as.character(x),
x %% 5 == 0 ~ "fizz",
x %% 7 == 0 ~ "buzz",
x %% 35 == 0 ~ "fizz buzz"
)
# If none of the cases match, NA is used:
case_when(
x %% 5 == 0 ~ "fizz",
x %% 7 == 0 ~ "buzz",
x %% 35 == 0 ~ "fizz buzz"
)
# Note that NA values in the vector x do not get special treatment. If you want
# to explicitly handle NA values you can use the `is.na` function:
x[2:4] <- NA_real_
case_when(
x %% 35 == 0 ~ "fizz buzz",
x %% 5 == 0 ~ "fizz",
x %% 7 == 0 ~ "buzz",
is.na(x) ~ "nope",
TRUE ~ as.character(x)
)
# All RHS values need to be of the same type. Inconsistent types will throw an error.
# This applies also to NA values used in RHS: NA is logical, use
# typed values like NA_real_, NA_complex, NA_character_, NA_integer_ as appropriate.
case_when(
x %% 35 == 0 ~ NA_character_,
x %% 5 == 0 ~ "fizz",
x %% 7 == 0 ~ "buzz",
TRUE ~ as.character(x)
)
case_when(
x %% 35 == 0 ~ 35,
x %% 5 == 0 ~ 5,
x %% 7 == 0 ~ 7,
TRUE ~ NA_real_
)
# case_when() evaluates all RHS expressions, and then constructs its
# result by extracting the selected (via the LHS expressions) parts.
# In particular NaNs are produced in this case:
y <- seq(-2, 2, by = .5)
case_when(
y >= 0 ~ sqrt(y),
TRUE ~ y
)
# This throws an error as NA is logical not numeric
try(case_when(
x %% 35 == 0 ~ 35,
x %% 5 == 0 ~ 5,
x %% 7 == 0 ~ 7,
TRUE ~ NA
))
# case_when is particularly useful inside mutate when you want to
# create a new variable that relies on a complex combination of existing
# variables
starwars %>%
select(name:mass, gender, species) %>%
mutate(
type = case_when(
height > 200 | mass > 200 ~ "large",
species == "Droid" ~ "robot",
TRUE ~ "other"
)
)
# `case_when()` is not a tidy eval function. If you'd like to reuse
# the same patterns, extract the `case_when()` call in a normal
# function:
case_character_type <- function(height, mass, species) {
case_when(
height > 200 | mass > 200 ~ "large",
species == "Droid" ~ "robot",
TRUE ~ "other"
)
}
case_character_type(150, 250, "Droid")
case_character_type(150, 150, "Droid")
# Such functions can be used inside `mutate()` as well:
starwars %>%
mutate(type = case_character_type(height, mass, species)) %>%
pull(type)
# `case_when()` ignores `NULL` inputs. This is useful when you'd
# like to use a pattern only under certain conditions. Here we'll
# take advantage of the fact that `if` returns `NULL` when there is
# no `else` clause:
case_character_type <- function(height, mass, species, robots = TRUE) {
case_when(
height > 200 | mass > 200 ~ "large",
if (robots) species == "Droid" ~ "robot",
TRUE ~ "other"
)
}
starwars %>%
mutate(type = case_character_type(height, mass, species, robots = FALSE)) %>%
pull(type)
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