vec_cast {vctrs}

Cast a vector to a specified type

Description

vec_cast() provides directional conversions from one type of vector to another. Along with vec_ptype2(), this generic forms the foundation of type coercions in vctrs.

Usage

vec_cast(x, to, ..., x_arg = caller_arg(x), to_arg = "", call = caller_env())

vec_cast_common(..., .to = NULL, .arg = "", .call = caller_env())

## S3 method for class 'logical'
vec_cast(x, to, ...)

## S3 method for class 'integer'
vec_cast(x, to, ...)

## S3 method for class 'double'
vec_cast(x, to, ...)

## S3 method for class 'complex'
vec_cast(x, to, ...)

## S3 method for class 'raw'
vec_cast(x, to, ...)

## S3 method for class 'character'
vec_cast(x, to, ...)

## S3 method for class 'list'
vec_cast(x, to, ...)

Arguments

x

Vectors to cast.

to, .to

Type to cast to. If NULL, x will be returned as is.

...

For vec_cast_common(), vectors to cast. For vec_cast(), vec_cast_default(), and vec_restore(), these dots are only for future extensions and should be empty.

x_arg

Argument name for x, used in error messages to inform the user about the locations of incompatible types (see stop_incompatible_type()).

to_arg

Argument name to used in error messages to inform the user about the locations of incompatible types (see stop_incompatible_type()).

call, .call

The execution environment of a currently running function, e.g. caller_env(). The function will be mentioned in error messages as the source of the error. See the call argument of abort() for more information.

.arg

An argument name as a string. This argument will be mentioned in error messages as the input that is at the origin of a problem.

Value

A vector the same length as x with the same type as to, or an error if the cast is not possible. An error is generated if information is lost when casting between compatible types (i.e. when there is no 1-to-1 mapping for a specific value).

Implementing coercion methods

• For an overview of how these generics work and their roles in vctrs, see ?theory-faq-coercion.

• For an example of implementing coercion methods for simple vectors, see ?howto-faq-coercion.

• For an example of implementing coercion methods for data frame subclasses, see ?howto-faq-coercion-data-frame.

• For a tutorial about implementing vctrs classes from scratch, see vignette("s3-vector").

Dependencies of vec_cast_common()

vctrs dependencies

• vec_ptype2()

• vec_cast()

base dependencies

Some functions enable a base-class fallback for vec_cast_common(). In that case the inputs are deemed compatible when they have the same base type and inherit from the same base class.

See Also

Call stop_incompatible_cast() when you determine from the attributes that an input can't be cast to the target type.

Examples

# x is a double, but no information is lost
vec_cast(1, integer())

# When information is lost the cast fails
try(vec_cast(c(1, 1.5), integer()))
try(vec_cast(c(1, 2), logical()))

# You can suppress this error and get the partial results
allow_lossy_cast(vec_cast(c(1, 1.5), integer()))
allow_lossy_cast(vec_cast(c(1, 2), logical()))

# By default this suppress all lossy cast errors without
# distinction, but you can be specific about what cast is allowed
# by supplying prototypes
allow_lossy_cast(vec_cast(c(1, 1.5), integer()), to_ptype = integer())
try(allow_lossy_cast(vec_cast(c(1, 2), logical()), to_ptype = integer()))

# No sensible coercion is possible so an error is generated
try(vec_cast(1.5, factor("a")))

# Cast to common type
vec_cast_common(factor("a"), factor(c("a", "b")))