Fun() to filter df by matching n values from the head (or tail) of var

tidyverse
1

In there an existing function like this one?

It filters a data frame by matching n values from the head (or tail) of the unique values of a variable. It is similar to top_n(), but instead of using min_rank() or max_rank() it uses head() or tail(); and var is flexible as in pull().

top <- function(.data, var, n = 1) {
  var <- rlang::enquo(var)
  pulled <- dplyr::pull(.data, !!var)
  sorted <- sort(unique(pulled))
  if (n > 0 ) {
    to_match <- head(sorted, n)
  } else {
    to_match <- tail(sorted, abs(n))
  }
  .data[pulled %in% to_match, ]
}

df <- data.frame(x = 1:9, y = letters[1:3], stringsAsFactors = FALSE)

# `var` can be bare or quoted
(result <- top(df, "y"))
#>   x y
#> 1 1 a
#> 4 4 a
#> 7 7 a
identical(top(df, y), result)
#> [1] TRUE

# `var` can also be matched by position
identical(top(df, var = y), top(df, var = 2))
#> [1] TRUE

top(df, y, n = 2)
#>   x y
#> 1 1 a
#> 2 2 b
#> 4 4 a
#> 5 5 b
#> 7 7 a
#> 8 8 b
# Negative values select from the tail
top(df, y, n = -2)
#>   x y
#> 2 2 b
#> 3 3 c
#> 5 5 b
#> 6 6 c
#> 8 8 b
#> 9 9 c