rk.subset.tidy

An RKWard GUI Plugin for Subsetting Cases and Variables using dplyr

rk.subset.tidy provides a fast, intuitive, point-and-click graphical interface for core data manipulation tasks in R. Acting as a lightweight wrapper for the popular dplyr package, this plugin allows users to seamlessly filter, slice, select, and sort datasets without writing code.

Note: This plugin is laser-focused on subsetting (rows and columns). For joining tables, see rk.dplyr. For mutating and aggregating data, see rk.data.wrangling.

🌟 Key Features

Zero-Code Tidyverse: Harness the power of filter(), slice(), select(), and arrange() via a highly optimized GUI.
"Focus Magic" UI: The variable selector panel dynamically collapses to show only the columns belonging to the dataframe you are currently working on, making variable selection effortless.
Tidy Evaluation Safety: Automatically protects variable names containing spaces or special characters by wrapping them in backticks (`my var`) during R code generation.
Crash-Proof Previews: Live data previews are intelligently capped at 100 rows (%>% head(100)) behind the scenes. This prevents RKWard from freezing when previewing manipulations on massive datasets (e.g., census microdata).
Multilingual: Fully translated into English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese (Brazil).

What's New in Version 0.0.2

🔍 Smart Basic Filtering & UX Polish

Interactive Basic Filter: Added a new beginner-friendly "Basic Filter" interface to the Subset Cases tool. Users can now build logical conditions point-and-click style using variable slots and operator dropdowns.
Dynamic UI Logic: The interface now uses RKWard XML logic to smartly hide the "Value" input box when checking for missing data (is.na() or !is.na()), keeping the dialogue clean and preventing user errors. The advanced text box remains available for complex multi-condition queries.
UX Clarity: Resolved ambiguous UI labels in the slicing tab. Spinboxes now explicitly distinguish between "Number of top rows" and "Number of bottom rows" for better user guidance.
Bug Fixes & i18n: Fixed a JavaScript string concatenation bug that prevented the success message from displaying the saved object's name. Fully updated the translation dictionaries (ES, PT-BR, FR, DE) to cover the new UI elements.

⚙️ Prerequisites

You must have RKWard installed along with the following R package:

install.packages("dplyr")

🚀 Installation

You can install this plugin directly from GitHub using remotes inside your RKWard console:

# Install the plugin
library("remotes")
# install_github("AlfCano/rk.subset.tidy")
install.packages("rk.subset.tidy", repos = c('https://alfcano.r-universe.dev', 'https://cloud.r-project.org'))

Once installed, restart RKWard, navigate to Settings -> Configure RKWard -> Plugins, and activate rk.subset.tidy.

🛠️ Usage Workflow

This plugin adds two new powerful tools to your RKWard menus, located under Data ➔ Data Transformation (dplyr):

1. Subset Cases (Filter & Slice)

Extract rows based on logical conditions or their physical position in the dataframe.

Filter by Logic:
- Basic Filter: Use dropdown menus to create logical rules (e.g., Variable == Value, < =, or is.na()). The UI smartly adapts to your choices.
- Advanced Filter: Write complex, multi-condition custom statements (e.g., skin_color == 'light' & height > 150).
Slice by Position: Select exactly which rows to keep. Choose between a specific Range, Top Rows (slice_head), Bottom Rows (slice_tail), or taking a Random Sample (slice_sample).

2. Select Variables & Arrange

Choose which columns to keep/drop and sort your data.

Select Columns:
- Pick variables to Keep or Drop directly from the UI slots.
- Use the Advanced Select text box to harness the full power of tidyselect helpers (e.g., starts_with("hair") or hair_color:eye_color).
Arrange Rows: Select one or multiple variables to sort your dataframe. Easily toggle descending order (desc()) with a single click.

🌍 Internationalization (i18n)

The graphical interface automatically adapts to your RKWard language settings. Currently supported languages:

🇺🇸 English (Default)
🇪🇸 Spanish (Español)
🇫🇷 French (Français)
🇩🇪 German (Deutsch)
🇧🇷 Portuguese (Português do Brasil)

📝 License and Author

Author: Alfonso Cano (@AlfCano)
Email: alfonso.cano@correo.buap.mx

Assisted by: Gemini, a large language model from Google.
License: GPL (>= 3)

This project is licensed under the GPL (>= 3) License.