I have a df where some years might ultimately have columns that don't exist. I am looking to use code that allows the columns that do exist to be selected.

df <- tibble::tribble(
  ~llevel, ~mlevel, ~minorMasterId,             ~playerName,        ~playerNameRoute,
     "ST",   "MLB",     "sa920245", "Vladimir Guerrero Jr.", "Vladimir Guerrero Jr.",
    "MLB",   "MLB",    "sa3007033",         "Wander Franco",         "Wander Franco",
     "ST",   "MLB",     "sa919910",    "Fernando Tatis Jr.",    "Fernando Tatis Jr.",
     "ST",   "MLB",     "sa917930",       "Forrest Whitley",       "Forrest Whitley"
  )

df <- df|>
  dplyr::select(Season,
                Type,
                rank = cOVR,
                _rank = cORG,
                redraft_rank = Fantasy_Redraft,
                dynasty_rank = Fantasy_Dynasty,
                playerName,
                PlayerId,
                minorMasterId)

I am guessing it might utilize some version of any_of, but I am having a tough time getting to a solution.

I have a df where some years might ultimately have columns that don't exist. I am looking to use code that allows the columns that do exist to be selected.

df <- tibble::tribble(
  ~llevel, ~mlevel, ~minorMasterId,             ~playerName,        ~playerNameRoute,
     "ST",   "MLB",     "sa920245", "Vladimir Guerrero Jr.", "Vladimir Guerrero Jr.",
    "MLB",   "MLB",    "sa3007033",         "Wander Franco",         "Wander Franco",
     "ST",   "MLB",     "sa919910",    "Fernando Tatis Jr.",    "Fernando Tatis Jr.",
     "ST",   "MLB",     "sa917930",       "Forrest Whitley",       "Forrest Whitley"
  )

df <- df|>
  dplyr::select(Season,
                Type,
                rank = cOVR,
                _rank = cORG,
                redraft_rank = Fantasy_Redraft,
                dynasty_rank = Fantasy_Dynasty,
                playerName,
                PlayerId,
                minorMasterId)

I am guessing it might utilize some version of any_of, but I am having a tough time getting to a solution.

• r
• dplyr

1 Answer 1

To use any_of(), you could move column names to a char vector, optionally naming those you want to rename:

cols <- c(
  "Season",
  "Type",
  rank = "cOVR",
  _rank = "cORG",
  redraft_rank = "Fantasy_Redraft",
  dynasty_rank = "Fantasy_Dynasty",
  renamed_player_name = "playerName",
  "PlayerId",
  "minorMasterId")

df|>
  dplyr::select(dplyr::any_of(cols))
#> # A tibble: 4 × 2
#>   renamed_player_name   minorMasterId
#>   <chr>                 <chr>        
#> 1 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sa920245     
#> 2 Wander Franco         sa3007033    
#> 3 Fernando Tatis Jr.    sa919910     
#> 4 Forrest Whitley       sa917930