Find first non-missing element

Given a set of vectors, coalesce() finds the first non-missing value at each position. This is inspired by the SQL COALESCE function which does the same thing for NULLs.

Usage

coalesce(...)

Arguments

...

Vectors. Inputs should be recyclable (either be length 1L or n) and coercible to a common type.

Details

Currently, coalesce() type checking does not take place.

See also

na_if() to replace specified values to a NA.

replace_na() to replace a NA with a value.

Examples

# Use a single value to replace all missing vectors
x <- sample(c(1:5, NA, NA, NA))
coalesce(x, 0L)
#> [1] 4 0 3 0 1 5 0 2

# Or match together a complete vector from missing pieces
y <- c(1, 2, NA, NA, 5)
z <- c(NA, NA, 3, 4, 5)
coalesce(y, z)
#> [1] 1 2 3 4 5