I am trying to add columns to my data.table, where the names are dynamic. I addition I need to use the by argument when adding these columns. For example:
test_dtb <- data.table(a = sample(1:100, 100), b = sample(1:100, 100), id = rep(1:10,10))
cn <- parse(text = "blah")
test_dtb[ , eval(cn) := mean(a), by = id]
# Error in `[.data.table`(test_dtb, , `:=`(eval(cn), mean(a)), by = id) :
# LHS of := must be a single column name when with=TRUE. When with=FALSE the LHS may be a vector of column names or positions.
Another attempt:
cn <- "blah"
test_dtb[ , cn := mean(a), by = id, with = FALSE]
# Error in `[.data.table`(test_dtb, , `:=`(cn, mean(a)), by = id, with = FALSE) : 'with' must be TRUE when 'by' or 'keyby' is provided
Update from Matthew:
This now works in v1.8.3 on R-Forge. Thanks for highlighting!
See this similar question for new examples: