Add (insert) a column between two columns in a data.frame

Question

I have a data frame that has columns a, b, and c. I\'d like to add a new column d between b and c.

I know I could just add d at the end by using cbind but h

Answer 1

Create an example data.frame and add a column to it.

df = data.frame(a = seq(1, 3), b = seq(4,6), c = seq(7,9))
df['d'] <- seq(10,12)
df

  a b c  d
1 1 4 7 10
2 2 5 8 11
3 3 6 9 12

Rearrange by column index

df[, colnames(df)[c(1:2,4,3)]]

or by column name

df[, c('a', 'b', 'd', 'c')]

The result is

  a b  d c
1 1 4 10 7
2 2 5 11 8
3 3 6 12 9

Answer 2

df <- data.frame(a=c(1,2), b=c(3,4), c=c(5,6))
df %>%
  mutate(d= a/2) %>%
  select(a, b, d, c)

results

  a b   d c
1 1 3 0.5 5
2 2 4 1.0 6

I suggest to use dplyr::select after dplyr::mutate. It has many helpers to select/de-select subset of columns.

In the context of this question the order by which you select will be reflected in the output data.frame.

Answer 3

Easy solution. In a data frame with 5 columns, If you want insert another column between 3 and 4...

tmp <- data[, 1:3]
tmp$example <- NA # or any value.
data <- cbind(tmp, data[, 4:5]

Answer 4

Add in your new column:

df$d <- list/data

Then you can reorder them.

df <- df[, c("a", "b", "d", "c")]

Answer 5

For what it's worth, I wrote a function to do this:

[removed]

---

I have now updated this function with before and after functionality and defaulting place to 1. It also has data table compatability:

#####
# FUNCTION: InsertDFCol(colName, colData, data, place = 1, before, after)
# DESCRIPTION: Takes in a data, a vector of data, a name for that vector and a place to insert this vector into
# the data frame as a new column. If you put place = 3, the new column will be in the 3rd position and push the current
# 3rd column up one (and each subsuquent column up one). All arguments must be set. Adding a before and after
# argument that will allow the user to say where to add the new column, before or after a particular column.
# Please note that if before or after is input, it WILL override the place argument if place is given as well. Also, place
# defaults to adding the new column to the front.
#####

InsertDFCol <- function(colName, colData, data, place = 1, before, after) {

  # A check on the place argument.
  if (length(names(data)) < place) stop("The place argument exceeds the number of columns in the data for the InsertDFCol function. Please check your place number")
  if (place <= 0 & (!missing(before) | !(missing(after)))) stop("You cannot put a column into the 0th or less than 0th position. Check your place argument.")
  if (place %% 1 != 0 & (!missing(before) | !(missing(after)))) stop("Your place value was not an integer.")
  if (!(missing(before)) & !missing(after)) stop("You cannot designate a before AND an after argument in the same function call. Please use only one or the other.")

  # Data Table compatability.
  dClass <- class(data)
  data <- as.data.frame(data)

  # Creating booleans to define whether before or after is given.
  useBefore <- !missing(before)
  useAfter <- !missing(after)

  # If either of these are true, then we are using the before or after argument, run the following code.
  if (useBefore | useAfter) {

    # Checking the before/after argument if given. Also adding regular expressions.
    if (useBefore) { CheckChoice(before, names(data)) ; before <- paste0("^", before, "$") }
    if (useAfter) { CheckChoice(after, names(data)) ; after <- paste0("^", after, "$") }

    # If before or after is given, replace "place" with the appropriate number.
    if (useBefore) { newPlace <- grep(before, names(data)) ; if (length(newPlace) > 1) { stop("Your before argument matched with more than one column name. Do you have duplicate column names?!") }}
    if (useAfter) { newPlace <- grep(after, names(data)) ; if (length(newPlace) > 1) { stop("Your after argument matched with more than one column name. Do you have duplicate column names?!") }}
    if (useBefore) place <- newPlace # Overriding place.
    if (useAfter) place <- newPlace + 1 # Overriding place.

  }

  # Making the new column.
  data[, colName] <- colData

  # Finding out how to reorder this.
  # The if statement handles the case where place = 1.
  currentPlace <- length(names(data)) # Getting the place of our data (which should have been just added at the end).
  if (place == 1) {

    colOrder <- c(currentPlace, 1:(currentPlace - 1))

  } else if (place == currentPlace) { # If the place to add the new data was just at the end of the data. Which is stupid...but we'll add support anyway.

    colOrder <- 1:currentPlace

  } else { # Every other case.

    firstHalf <- 1:(place - 1) # Finding the first half on columns that come before the insertion.
    secondHalf <- place:(currentPlace - 1) # Getting the second half, which comes after the insertion.
    colOrder <- c(firstHalf, currentPlace, secondHalf) # Putting that order together.

  }

  # Reordering the data.
  data <- subset(data, select = colOrder)

  # Data Table compatability.
  if (dClass[1] == "data.table") data <- as.data.table(data)

  # Returning.
  return(data)

}

---

I realized I also did not include CheckChoice:

#####
# FUNCTION: CheckChoice(names, dataNames, firstWord == "Oops" message = TRUE)                                                                                               
# DESCRIPTION: Takes the column names of a data frame and checks to make sure whatever "choice" you made (be it 
# your choice of dummies or your choice of chops) is actually in the data frame columns. Makes troubleshooting easier. 
# This function is also important in prechecking names to make sure the formula ends up being right. Use it after 
# adding in new data to check the "choose" options. Set firstWord to the first word you want said before an exclamation point.
# The warn argument (previously message) can be set to TRUE if you only want to 
#####

CheckChoice <- function(names, dataNames, firstWord = "Oops", warn = FALSE) {

  for (name in names) {

    if (warn == TRUE) { if(!(name %in% dataNames)) { warning(paste0(firstWord, "! The column/value/argument, ", name, ", was not valid OR not in your data! Check your input! This is a warning message of that!")) } }
    if (warn == FALSE) { if(!(name %in% dataNames)) { stop(paste0(firstWord, "! The column/value/argument, " , name, ", was not valid OR not in your data! Check your input!")) } }

  }
}

Answer 6

You can do it like below -

df <- data.frame(a=1:4, b=5:8, c=9:12)
df['d'] <- seq(10,13)
df <- df[,c('a','b','d','c')]