---
title: "Invariants: Comparing behavior with data frames"
#output: rmarkdown::word_document
output: rmarkdown::html_vignette
vignette: >
  %\VignetteIndexEntry{Invariants: Comparing behavior with data frames}
  %\VignetteEngine{knitr::rmarkdown}
  %\VignetteEncoding{UTF-8}
---



```{r}
#| include: false
# To suppress messages
library(tibble)
library(vctrs)

knitr::opts_chunk$set(
  collapse = TRUE,
  comment = "#>",
  error = TRUE
)
tibble:::set_dftbl_hooks()

options(
  lifecycle_verbosity = "warning",
  lifecycle_disable_warnings = FALSE,
  lifecycle_verbose_soft_deprecation = TRUE,
  lifecycle_repeat_warnings = TRUE
)

# Set to FALSE for production
eval_details <- (Sys.getenv("IN_GALLEY") != "")
```

This vignette defines invariants for subsetting and subset-assignment for tibbles, and illustrates where their behaviour differs from data frames.
The goal is to define a small set of invariants that consistently define how behaviors interact.
Some behaviors are defined using functions of the vctrs package, e.g. `vec_slice()`, `vec_recycle()` and `vec_as_index()`.
Refer to their documentation for more details about the invariants that they follow.

The subsetting and subassignment operators for data frames and tibbles are particularly tricky, because they support both row and column indexes, both of which are optionally missing.
We resolve this by first defining column access with `[[` and `$`, then column-wise subsetting with `[`, then row-wise subsetting, then the composition of both.

## Conventions

In this article, all behaviors are demonstrated using one example data frame and its tibble equivalent:

```{r}
#| label: setup
library(tibble)
library(vctrs)

new_df <- function() {
  df <- data.frame(n = c(1L, NA, 3L, NA))
  df$c <- letters[5:8]
  df$li <- list(9, 10:11, 12:14, "text")
  df
}

new_tbl <- function() {
  as_tibble(new_df())
}
```

Results of the same code for data frames and tibbles are presented side by side:

```{r}
#| label: show
#| dftbl: true
#| dftbl_always: true
new_df()
```

If the results are identical (after converting to a data frame if necessary), only the tibble result is shown.

Subsetting operations are read-only.
The same objects are reused in all examples:

```{r}
#| label: ro
df <- new_df()
tbl <- new_tbl()
```

Where needed, we also show examples with hierarchical columns containing a data frame or a matrix:

```{r}
#| label: setup2
new_tbl2 <- function() {
  tibble(
    tb = tbl,
    m = diag(4)
  )
}

new_df2 <- function() {
  df2 <- new_tbl2()
  class(df2) <- "data.frame"
  class(df2$tb) <- "data.frame"
  df2
}

df2 <- new_df2()
tbl2 <- new_tbl2()
```

```{r}
#| label: show-compare-2
#| dftbl: true
new_df()
```

For subset assignment (subassignment, for short), we need a fresh copy of the data for each test.
The `with_*()` functions (omitted here for brevity) allow for a more concise notation.
These functions take an assignment expression, execute it on a fresh copy of the data, and return the data for printing.
The first example prints what's really executed, further examples omit this output.

```{r}
#| label: with-def
#| include: false
with_df <- function(code, verbose = FALSE) {
  code <- rlang::enexpr(code)

  full_code <- rlang::quo({
    df <- new_df()
    !!code
    df
  })
  if (verbose) rlang::expr_print(rlang::quo_get_expr(full_code))
  rlang::eval_tidy(full_code)
}

with_tbl <- function(code, verbose = FALSE) {
  code <- rlang::enexpr(code)

  full_code <- rlang::quo({
    tbl <- new_tbl()
    !!code
    tbl
  })
  if (verbose) rlang::expr_print(rlang::quo_get_expr(full_code))
  rlang::eval_tidy(full_code)
}

with_df2 <- function(code) {
  code <- rlang::enexpr(code)

  full_code <- rlang::quo({
    df2 <- new_df2()
    !!code
    df2
  })
  rlang::eval_tidy(full_code)
}

with_tbl2 <- function(code) {
  code <- rlang::enexpr(code)

  full_code <- rlang::quo({
    tbl2 <- new_tbl2()
    !!code
    tbl2
  })
  rlang::eval_tidy(full_code)
}
```

```{r}
#| label: with-demo
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df$n <- rev(df$n), verbose = TRUE)
```

## Column extraction

### Definition of `x[[j]]`

`x[[j]]` is equal to `.subset2(x, j)`.

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-equivalent-to-subset2
#| dftbl: true
df[[1]]
.subset2(df, 1)
```


```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-equivalent-to-subset2-detail
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
identical(df[[3]], .subset2(df, 3))
identical(df2[["df"]], .subset2(df2, "df"))
```

NB: `x[[j]]` always returns an object of size `nrow(x)` if the column exists.

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-retains-size
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
vec_size(df[[1]])
vec_size(df[[3]])
vec_size(df2[[1]])
vec_size(df2[[2]])
```

`j` must be a single number or a string, as enforced by `.subset2(x, j)`.

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-requires-scalar-j-index
#| dftbl: true
df[[1:2]]
df[[c("n", "c")]]
df[[TRUE]]
df[[mean]]
```

`NA` indexes, numeric out-of-bounds (OOB) values, and non-integers throw an error:

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-j-oob-numeric
#| dftbl: true
df[[NA]]
df[[NA_character_]]
df[[NA_integer_]]
df[[-1]]
df[[4]]
df[[1.5]]
df[[Inf]]
```

Character OOB access is silent because a common package idiom is to check for the absence of a column with `is.null(df[[var]])`.

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-j-oob-character
#| dftbl: true
df[["x"]]
```

### Definition of `x$name`

`x$name` and `x$"name"` are equal to `x[["name"]]`.

```{r}
#| label: dollar-equivalent-to-subset
#| dftbl: true
df$n
df$"n"
df[["n"]]
```

```{r}
#| label: dollar-equivalent-to-subset-detail
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
identical(df$li, df[["li"]])
identical(df2$tb, df2[["tb"]])
identical(df2$m, df2[["m"]])
```

Unlike data frames, tibbles do not partially match names.
Because `df$x` is rarely used in packages, it can raise a warning:

```{r}
#| label: dollar-equivalent-to-subset-pmatch
#| dftbl: true
df$l
df$not_present
```

## Column subsetting

### Definition of `x[j]`

`j` is converted to an integer vector by `vec_as_index(j, ncol(x), names = names(x))`.
Then `x[c(j_1, j_2, ..., j_n)]` is equivalent to `tibble(x[[j_1]], x[[j_2]], ..., x[[j_n]])`, keeping the corresponding column names.
This implies that `j` must be a numeric or character vector, or a logical vector with length 1 or `ncol(x)`.[^subset-extract-commute]

[^subset-extract-commute]: `x[j][[jj]]` is equal to `x[[ j[[jj]] ]]`, in particular `x[j][[1]]` is equal to `x[[j]]` for scalar numeric or integer `j`.


```{r}
#| label: bracket-j-definition
#| dftbl: true
df[1:2]
```

When subsetting repeated indexes, the resulting column names are undefined, do not rely on them.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-j-duplication
#| dftbl: true
df[c(1, 1)]
```

For tibbles with repeated column names, subsetting by name uses the first matching column.

`nrow(df[j])` equals `nrow(df)`.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-j-empty
#| dftbl: true
df[integer()]
```

Tibbles support indexing by a logical matrix, but only if all values in the returned vector are compatible.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-j-logical-matrix
#| dftbl: true
df[is.na(df)]
df[!is.na(df)]
```

### Definition of `x[, j]`

`x[, j]` is equal to `x[j]`.
Tibbles do not perform column extraction if `x[j]` would yield a single column.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-missing-i
#| dftbl: true
df[, 1]
df[, 1:2]
```

```{r}
#| label: bracket-missing-i-detail
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
identical(df[, 2:3], df[2:3])
identical(df2[, 1:2], df2[1:2])
```

### Definition of `x[, j, drop = TRUE]`

For backward compatiblity, `x[, j, drop = TRUE]` performs column __extraction__, returning `x[j][[1]]` when `ncol(x[j])` is 1.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-always-returns-tibble-drop
#| dftbl: true
df[, 1, drop = TRUE]
```

```{r}
#| label: bracket-always-returns-tibble-drop-detail
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
identical(df[, 3, drop = TRUE], df[[3]])
identical(df2[, 1, drop = TRUE], df2[[1]])
identical(df2[, 2, drop = TRUE], df2[[2]])
```

## Row subsetting

### Definition of `x[i, ]`

`x[i, ]` is equal to `tibble(vec_slice(x[[1]], i), vec_slice(x[[2]], i), ...)`.[^row-subset-efficiency]

[^row-subset-efficiency]: Row subsetting `x[i, ]` is not defined in terms of `x[[j]][i]` because that definition does not generalise to matrix and data frame columns.
For efficiency and backward compatibility, `i` is converted to an integer vector by `vec_as_index(i, nrow(x))` first.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i
#| dftbl: true
df[3, ]
```

This means that `i` must be a numeric vector, or a logical vector of length `nrow(x)` or 1.
For compatibility, `i` can also be a character vector containing positive numbers.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-wrong-type
#| dftbl: true
df[mean, ]
df[list(1), ]
df["1", ]
```

Exception: OOB values generate warnings instead of errors:

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-oob
#| dftbl: true
df[10, ]
df["x", ]
```


Unlike data frames, only logical vectors of length 1 are recycled.


```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-recycle
#| dftbl: true
df[c(TRUE, FALSE), ]
```

NB: scalar logicals are recycled, but scalar numerics are not.
That makes the `x[NA, ]` and `x[NA_integer_, ]` return different results.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-na
#| dftbl: true
df[NA, ]
df[NA_integer_, ]
```

### Definition of `x[i, , drop = TRUE]`

`drop = TRUE` has no effect when not selecting a single row:

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-drop
#| dftbl: true
df[1, , drop = TRUE]
```



## Row and column subsetting

### Definition of `x[]` and `x[,]`

`x[]` and `x[,]` are equivalent to `x`.[^bracket-comma]

[^bracket-comma]: `x[,]` is equivalent to `x[]` because `x[, j]` is equivalent to `x[j]`.

### Definition of `x[i, j]`

`x[i, j]` is equal to `x[i, ][j]`.[^bracket-flip]

[^bracket-flip]: A more efficient implementation of `x[i, j]` would forward to `x[j][i, ]`.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-j-equivalent-to-i-subset-then-j
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
df[1, 1]
df[1, ][1]
identical(df[1, 2:3], df[2:3][1, ])
identical(df[2:3, 1], df[1][2:3, ])
identical(df2[2:3, 1:2], df2[1:2][2:3, ])
```


### Definition of `x[[i, j]]`

`i` must be a numeric vector of length 1.
`x[[i, j]]` is equal to `x[i, ][[j]]`, or `vctrs::vec_slice(x[[j]], i)`.[^bracket2-flip]

[^bracket2-flip]: Cell subsetting `x[[i, j]]` is not defined in terms of `x[[j]][[i]]` because that definition does not generalise to list, matrix and data frame columns.
A more efficient implementation of `x[[i, j]]` would check that `j` is a scalar and forward to `x[i, j][[1]]`.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-bracket-i-j-equivalent-to-i-subset-then-j
df[[1, 1]]
df[[1, 3]]
```

This implies that `j` must be a numeric or character vector of length 1.

NB: `vec_size(x[[i, j]])` always equals 1.
Unlike `x[i, ]`, `x[[i, ]]` is not valid.

## Column update

### Definition of `x[[j]] <- a`

If `a` is a vector then `x[[j]] <- a` replaces the `j`th column with value `a`.

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-assign-definition
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df(df[[1]] <- 0)
with_df(df[[3]] <- 4:1)
with_df2(df2[[1]] <- 0)
with_df2(df2[[2]] <- 4:1)
```

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-assign-requires-scalar-j-index
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df(df[[1]] <- 0)
with_df(df[["c"]] <- 0)
```

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-assign-requires-scalar-j-index-error
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df(df[[TRUE]] <- 0)
with_df(df[[1:3]] <- 0)
with_df(df[[c("n", "c")]] <- 0)
with_df(df[[FALSE]] <- 0)
with_df(df[[1:2]] <- 0)
with_df(df[[NA_integer_]] <- 0)
with_df(df[[NA]] <- 0)
with_df(df[[NA_character_]] <- 0)
```

`a` is recycled to the same size as `x` so must have size `nrow(x)` or 1.
(The only exception is when `a` is `NULL`, as described below.)
Recycling also works for list, data frame, and matrix columns.

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-assign-recycle
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[["li"]] <- list(0))
with_df2(df2[["tb"]] <- df[1, ])
with_df2(df2[["m"]] <- df2[["m"]][1, , drop = FALSE])
```

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-requires-size
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df(df[[1]] <- 1)
with_df(df[[1]] <- 4:1)
with_df(df[[1]] <- 3:1)
with_df(df[[1]] <- 2:1)
```

`j` must be a scalar numeric or a string, and cannot be `NA`.
If `j` is OOB, a new column is added on the right hand side, with name repair if needed.

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-assign-supports-new
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[["x"]] <- 0)
with_df(df[[4]] <- 0)
with_df(df[[5]] <- 0)
```



`df[[j]] <- a` replaces the complete column so can change the type.

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-assign-supports-type-change
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df(df[[1]] <- df[[2]])
with_df(df[[2]] <- df[[3]])
with_df(df[[3]] <- df2[[1]])
with_df2(df2[[1]] <- df2[[2]])
with_df2(df2[[2]] <- df[[1]])
```

`[[<-` supports removing a column by assigning `NULL` to it.

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-assign-supports-null
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df(df[[1]] <- NULL)
with_df2(df2[[2]] <- NULL)
```

Removing a nonexistent column is a no-op.

```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-assign-supports-null-unknown
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df(df[["q"]] <- NULL)
```

### Definition of `x$name <- a`

`x$name <- a` and `x$"name" <- a` are equivalent to `x[["name"]] <- a`.[^column-assign-symmetry]

[^column-assign-symmetry]: `$` behaves almost completely symmetrically to `[[` when comparing subsetting and subassignment.

```{r}
#| label: dollar-equivalent-to-subset-assign
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df$n <- 0)
with_df(df[["n"]] <- 0)
```

```{r}
#| label: dollar-equivalent-to-subset-assign-detail
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df(df$"n" <- 0)
```

`$<-` does not perform partial matching.

```{r}
#| label: dollar-equivalent-to-subset-assign-pmatch
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df$l <- 0)
with_df(df[["l"]] <- 0)
```

## Column subassignment: `x[j] <- a`

* If `j` is missing, it's replaced with `seq_along(x)`
* If `j` is logical vector, it's converted to numeric with `seq_along(x)[j]`.

### `a` is a list or data frame

If `inherits(a, "list")` or `inherits(a, "data.frame")` is `TRUE`, then `x[j] <- a` is equivalent to `x[[j[[1]]] <- a[[1]]`, `x[[j[[2]]]] <- a[[2]]`, ...

```{r}
#| label: bracket-assign-def
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[1:2] <- list("x", 4:1))
with_df(df[c("li", "x", "c")] <- list("x", 4:1, NULL))
```

If `length(a)` equals 1, then it is recycled to the same length as `j`.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-assign-recycles
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[1:2] <- list(1))
with_df(df[1:2] <- list(0, 0, 0))
with_df(df[1:3] <- list(0, 0))
```

An attempt to update the same column twice gives an error.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-assign-multiple
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[c(1, 1)] <- list(1, 2))
```

If `a` contains `NULL` values, the corresponding columns are removed *after* updating (i.e. position indexes refer to columns before any modifications).

```{r}
#| label: bracket-assign-remove
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[1:2] <- list(NULL, 4:1))
```

`NA` indexes are not supported.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-assign-na
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df(df[NA] <- list("x"))
with_df(df[NA_integer_] <- list("x"))
with_df(df[NA_character_] <- list("x"))
```

Just like column updates, `[<-` supports changing the type of an existing column.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-assign-supports-type-change
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df(df[1] <- df[2])
with_df(df[2] <- df[3])
with_df(df[3] <- df2[1])
with_df2(df2[1] <- df2[2])
with_df2(df2[2] <- df[1])
```

Appending columns at the end (without gaps) is supported.
The name of new columns is determined by the LHS, the RHS, or by name repair (in that order of precedence).

```{r}
#| label: bracket-assign-names
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[c("x", "y")] <- tibble("x", x = 4:1))
with_df(df[3:4] <- list("x", x = 4:1))
with_df(df[4] <- list(4:1))
with_df(df[5] <- list(4:1))
```

Tibbles support indexing by a logical matrix, but only for a scalar RHS, and if all columns updated are compatible with the value assigned.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-j-assign-logical-matrix
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[is.na(df)] <- 4)
with_df(df[is.na(df)] <- 1:2)
with_df(df[matrix(c(rep(TRUE, 5), rep(FALSE, 7)), ncol = 3)] <- 4)
```

### `a` is a matrix or array

If `is.matrix(a)`, then `a` is coerced to a data frame with `as.data.frame()` before assigning.
If rows are assigned, the matrix type must be compatible with all columns.
If `is.array(a)` and `any(dim(a)[-1:-2] != 1)`, an error is thrown.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-assign-array
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[1:2] <- matrix(8:1, ncol = 2))
with_df(df[1:3, 1:2] <- matrix(6:1, ncol = 2))
with_df(df[1:2] <- array(4:1, dim = c(4, 1, 1)))
with_df(df[1:2] <- array(8:1, dim = c(4, 2, 1)))
with_df(df[1:2] <- array(8:1, dim = c(2, 1, 4)))
with_df(df[1:2] <- array(8:1, dim = c(4, 1, 2)))
```

### `a` is another type of vector

If `vec_is(a)`, then `x[j] <- a` is equivalent to `x[j] <- list(a)`.
This is primarily provided for backward compatibility.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-assign-wraps
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[1] <- 0)
with_df(df[1] <- list(0))
```

Matrices must be wrapped in `list()` before assignment to create a matrix column.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-assign-matrix
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[1] <- list(matrix(1:8, ncol = 2)))

with_df(df[1:2] <- list(matrix(1:8, ncol = 2)))
```

### `a` is `NULL`

Entire columns can be removed.
Specifying `i` is an error.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-assign-null
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[1] <- NULL)
with_df(df[, 2:3] <- NULL)
with_df(df[1, 2:3] <- NULL)
```

### `a` is not a vector

Any other type for `a` is an error.
Note that if `is.list(a)` is `TRUE`, but `inherits(a, "list")` is `FALSE`, then `a` is considered to be a scalar.
See `?vec_is` and `?vec_proxy` for details.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-assign-non-vector
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[1] <- mean)
with_df(df[1] <- lm(mpg ~ wt, data = mtcars))
```



## Row subassignment: `x[i, ] <- list(...)`

`x[i, ] <- a` is the same as `vec_slice(x[[j_1]], i) <- a[[1]]`,  `vec_slice(x[[j_2]], i) <- a[[2]]`, ... .[^row-assign-symmetry]

[^row-assign-symmetry]: `x[i, ]` is symmetrical for subset and subassignment.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-assign
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[2:3, ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[c(FALSE, TRUE, TRUE, FALSE), ] <- df[1, ])
```

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-assign-detail
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df(df[0:2, ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[0, ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[-2, ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[-1:2, ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[NA_integer_, ] <- df[1, ])
with_df2(df2[NA_integer_, ] <- df2[1, ])
with_df(df[TRUE, ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[FALSE, ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[NA, ] <- df[1, ])
```

Only values of size one can be recycled.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-recycle-assign
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[2:3, ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[2:3, ] <- list(df$n[1], df$c[1:2], df$li[1]))
with_df(df[2:4, ] <- df[1:2, ])
```

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-recycle-assign-detail
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df2(df2[2:4, ] <- df2[1, ])
with_df2(df2[2:4, ] <- df2[2:3, ])
```

For compatibility, only a warning is issued for indexing beyond the number of rows.
Appending rows right at the end of the existing data is supported, without warning.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-oob-num
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[5, ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[5:7, ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[6, ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[-5, ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[-(5:7), ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[-6, ] <- df[1, ])
```

For compatibility, `i` can also be a character vector containing positive numbers.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-character
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[as.character(1:3), ] <- df[1, ])
```

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-character-detail
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df(df[as.character(-(1:3)), ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[as.character(3:5), ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[as.character(-(3:5)), ] <- df[1, ])
with_df(df[NA_character_, ] <- df[1, ])
```

## Row and column subassignment

### Definition of `x[i, j] <- a`

`x[i, j] <- a` is equivalent to `x[i, ][j] <- a`.[^bracket-assign-flip]

[^bracket-assign-flip]: `x[i, j]` is symmetrical for subsetting and subassignment.
A more efficient implementation of `x[i, j] <- a` would forward to `x[j][i, ] <- a`.

Subassignment to `x[i, j]` is stricter for tibbles than for data frames.
`x[i, j] <- a` can't change the data type of existing columns.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-data-type
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[2:3, 1] <- df[1:2, 2])
with_df(df[2:3, 2] <- df[1:2, 3])
with_df(df[2:3, 3] <- df2[1:2, 1])
with_df2(df2[2:3, 1] <- df2[1:2, 2])
with_df2(df2[2:3, 2] <- df[1:2, 1])
```

A notable exception is the population of a column full of `NA` (which is of type `logical`), or the use of `NA` on the right-hand side of the assignment.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-j-na-init
#| dftbl: true
with_df({df$x <- NA; df[2:3, "x"] <- 3:2})
with_df({df[2:3, 2:3] <- NA})
```

For programming, it is always safer (and faster) to use the correct type of `NA` to initialize columns.

```{r}
#| label: bracket-i-j-typed-na-init
#| dftbl: true
with_df({df$x <- NA_integer_; df[2:3, "x"] <- 3:2})
```


For new columns, `x[i, j] <- a` fills the unassigned rows with `NA`.

```{r}
#| label: subassign-ij-new-column
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[2:3, "n"] <- 1)
with_df(df[2:3, "x"] <- 1)
with_df(df[2:3, "n"] <- NULL)
```

Likewise, for new rows, `x[i, j] <- a` fills the unassigned columns with `NA`.

```{r}
#| label: append-rows-only-all-columns
#| dftbl: true
with_df(df[5, "n"] <- list(0L))
```


### Definition of `x[[i, j]] <- a`

`i` must be a numeric vector of length 1.
`x[[i, j]] <- a` is equivalent to `x[i, ][[j]] <- a`.[^double-bracket-ij-symmetry]

[^double-bracket-ij-symmetry]: `x[[i, j]]` is symmetrical for subsetting and subassignment.
An efficient implementation would check that `i` and `j` are scalar and forward to `x[i, j][[1]] <- a`.


```{r}
#| label: double-bracket-i-j-equivalent-to-row-subset-then-j
#| dftbl: true
#| include: !expr eval_details
#| eval: !expr eval_details
with_df(df[[1, 1]] <- 0)
with_df(df[1, ][[1]] <- 0)
with_df(df[[1, 3]] <- list(NULL))
with_df(df[1, ][[3]] <- list(NULL))
with_df2(df2[[1, 1]] <- df[1, ])
with_df2(df2[1, ][[1]] <- df[1, ])
with_df2(df2[[1, 2]] <- t(1:4))
with_df2(df2[1, ][[2]] <- t(1:4))
df[[1:2, 1]]
with_df(df[[1:2, 1]] <- 0)
```

NB: `vec_size(a)` must equal 1.
Unlike `x[i, ] <-`, `x[[i, ]] <-` is not valid.

```{r}
#| label: check
#| dftbl: true
#| include: false
stopifnot(identical(df, new_df()))
```
