how can i tell select() in dplyr that the string it is seeing is a column name in a data frame

Question

I tried searching but didn\'t find an answer to this question.

I\'m trying to use the select statement in dplyr but am having problems when I try to send it strings

Answer 1

For strings you can do

my_cols <- c("mpg", "disp")
mtcars %>% select(!!!my_cols)

although, I think it would probably be better practice to avoid strings and do

my_cols <- quos(mpg, disp)
mtcars %>% select(!!!my_cols)

Answer 2

In more recent versions of dplyr, this is possible in select with one_of, as in

my_cols <- c('mpg', 'disp')
mtcars %>% select(one_of(my_cols))