mutate(.keep = "none") and mutate(.keep = "used") error with sf object

[florisvdh]

Describe the bug

1. transmute(<sf-object>, ...) vs. mutate(<sf-object>, ..., .keep = "none")

The documentation of transmute() says:

It's superseded because you can perform the same job with mutate(.keep = "none").

However mutate(<sf-object>, ..., .keep = "none") errors, while it is expected to give the same result as transmute().

Notes:

• The geometry column should be sticky in mutate(), as in transmute().
• bind_cols() seems to work around the error, but looses the geometry; this may hint at what's happening.

2. mutate(<sf-object>, ..., .keep = "used")

mutate(<sf-object>, ..., .keep = "used") returns the same error.

I'd think in both cases the sticky nature of the geometry column is not preserved / respected, leading to the error.

To Reproduce

library(dplyr, warn.conflicts = FALSE)
library(sf)
#> Linking to GEOS 3.11.1, GDAL 3.6.4, PROJ 9.1.1; sf_use_s2() is TRUE
sf_extSoftVersion()
#>           GEOS           GDAL         proj.4 GDAL_with_GEOS     USE_PROJ_H 
#>       "3.11.1"        "3.6.4"        "9.1.1"         "true"         "true" 
#>           PROJ 
#>        "9.1.1"

g <- st_sfc(st_point(1:2), st_point(3:4))
s <- st_sf(a = 3:4, b = 1:2, geometry = g)
s
#> Simple feature collection with 2 features and 2 fields
#> Geometry type: POINT
#> Dimension:     XY
#> Bounding box:  xmin: 1 ymin: 2 xmax: 3 ymax: 4
#> CRS:           NA
#>   a b    geometry
#> 1 3 1 POINT (1 2)
#> 2 4 2 POINT (3 4)

# both should be the same: ------------------------------------
transmute(s, c = a * 2)
#> Simple feature collection with 2 features and 1 field
#> Geometry type: POINT
#> Dimension:     XY
#> Bounding box:  xmin: 1 ymin: 2 xmax: 3 ymax: 4
#> CRS:           NA
#>   c    geometry
#> 1 6 POINT (1 2)
#> 2 8 POINT (3 4)
mutate(s, c = a * 2, .keep = "none")
#> Error in st_geometry.sf(x): attr(obj, "sf_column") does not point to a geometry column.
#> Did you rename it, without setting st_geometry(obj) <- "newname"?

# strangely the following works, BUT drops geometry: ----------
mutate(s, c = a * 2, .keep = "none") |>
  bind_cols()
#>   c
#> 1 6
#> 2 8

# also errors: ------------------------------------------------
mutate(s, c = a * 2, .keep = "used")
#> Error in st_geometry.sf(x): attr(obj, "sf_column") does not point to a geometry column.
#> Did you rename it, without setting st_geometry(obj) <- "newname"?

# these are no problem: ---------------------------------------
mutate(s, c = a * 2, .keep = "unused")
#> Simple feature collection with 2 features and 2 fields
#> Geometry type: POINT
#> Dimension:     XY
#> Bounding box:  xmin: 1 ymin: 2 xmax: 3 ymax: 4
#> CRS:           NA
#>   b    geometry c
#> 1 1 POINT (1 2) 6
#> 2 2 POINT (3 4) 8
mutate(s, c = a * 2, .keep = "all")
#> Simple feature collection with 2 features and 3 fields
#> Geometry type: POINT
#> Dimension:     XY
#> Bounding box:  xmin: 1 ymin: 2 xmax: 3 ymax: 4
#> CRS:           NA
#>   a b    geometry c
#> 1 3 1 POINT (1 2) 6
#> 2 4 2 POINT (3 4) 8

^{Created on 2024-01-31 with reprex v2.1.0}

Session info

sessioninfo::session_info()
#> ─ Session info ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>  setting  value
#>  version  R version 4.3.2 (2023-10-31)
#>  os       Linux Mint 21.3
#>  system   x86_64, linux-gnu
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#>  language nl_BE:nl
#>  collate  nl_BE.UTF-8
#>  ctype    nl_BE.UTF-8
#>  tz       Europe/Brussels
#>  date     2024-01-31
#>  pandoc   3.1.1 @ /usr/lib/rstudio/resources/app/bin/quarto/bin/tools/ (via rmarkdown)
#> 
#> ─ Packages ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>  package     * version date (UTC) lib source
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#> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

[edzer]

Thanks, FYI,

bind_cols() seems to work around the error, but looses the geometry; this may hint at what's happening.

bind_cols() is a function, not a method, so there's little we can do about that here.