drop_name_labs {labelr}

Remove Name Label Attributes from a Data Frame

Description

Remove one or more descriptive variable name label attributes previously added to a data.frame using add_name_labs.

Note: dnl is a compact alias for drop_name_labs: they do the same thing, and the former is easier to type

Usage

drop_name_labs(data, vars = NULL)

dnl(data, vars = NULL)

Arguments

data

the data.frame with name labels that you wish to drop (and which were added using add_name_labs).

vars

the names of the columns/variables (not the name labels) whose name labels you wish to drop. If NULL, all variables' name labels will be dropped.

Details

drop_name_labs works with add_name_labs, get_name_labs and use_name_labs to facilitate creation, accessing, substitution, and removal of variable name labels for variable names. Each variable (column) of a data.frame can receive one and only one "name label," which typically is a noun phrase that expounds the meaning or contents of the variable's name (e.g., "Weight in ounces at birth" might be a viable name label for a column called "wgt"). drop_name_labs takes a data.frame and (optionally) a character vector of variables whose name labels should be discarded: If only a data.frame is provided, all variable name labels will be dropped. You can assign new name labels using new calls to add_name_labs (If you wish to change some or all name labels, you do not need to call drop_name_labs: you can simply pass the new name labels to add_name_labs, and they will overwrite the old ones (including any automatically generated provisional ones), while leaving in place any previously added name labels that you do not explicitly replace).

Value

The same data.frame you submitted, except that the selected name label attribute meta-data has been removed.

Examples

# create a data set
df <- mtcars

# variable names and their labels
names_labs_vec <- c(
  "mpg" = "Miles/(US) gallon",
  "cyl" = "Number of cylinders",
  "disp" = "Displacement (cu.in.)",
  "hp" = "Gross horsepower",
  "drat" = "Rear axle ratio",
  "wt" = "Weight (1000 lbs)",
  "qsec" = "1/4 mile time",
  "vs" = "Engine (0 = V-shaped, 1 = straight)",
  "am" = "Transmission (0 = automatic, 1 = manual)",
  "gear" = "Number of forward gears",
  "carb" = "Number of carburetors"
)

# assign variable labels
df <- add_name_labs(df,
  vars = names(names_labs_vec),
  labs = names_labs_vec
)

# see what we have
get_name_labs(df)

# drop the name label for var/col "am"
df <- drop_name_labs(df, "am")

# see what this did to the name label for "am"
get_name_labs(df)

# now, drop all of the name labels
df <- drop_name_labs(df)
get_name_labs(df) # they're gone