case_when(...)

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 NaN 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
## Not run: 
case_when(
  x %% 35 == 0 ~ 35,
  x %% 5 == 0 ~ 5,
  x %% 7 == 0 ~ 7,
  TRUE ~ NA
)

## End(Not run)

# 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)