Skip to content
Prev 390994 / 398506 Next

how to rename variables by lopping off first 3 characters

I have data coming to me from another source, in which some of the variable
names begin with "i.."

As in "i..actual_meaningful_var_name"

I would like to remove the first three characters from any variable name if
they are "i.."

I'm using R on Win 10 and dplyr, so ideally I'm looking for a dplyr
solution. Apparently I'm just not understanding how the various select,
contains, rename_at, rename_with, and so-on dplyr expressions work. I've
tried various arrangements of them, usually resulting in

Error: `contains()` must be used within a *selecting* function.
i See <https://tidyselect.r-lib.org/reference/faq-selection-context.html>

A simple select(contains(foo)) I can do fine, to select a subset of
variables. It's combining it with renaming that I am struggling with.

Grateful for any advice.

Thanks.

--Chris Ryan