Syntax and Notation

Selectors

The gtsummary package also utilizes selectors: selectors from the tidyselect package and custom selectors. Review their help files for details.

Formula and List Selectors

Many arguments throughout the gtsummary package accept list and formula notation, e.g. tbl_summary(statistic=). Below enumerates a few tips and shortcuts for using the list and formulas.

  1. List of Formulas

    Typical usage includes a list of formulas, where the LHS is a variable name or a selector.

    tbl_summary(statistic = list(age ~ "{mean}", all_categorical() ~ "{n}"))

  2. Named List

    You may also pass a named list; however, the tidyselect and gtsummary selectors are not supported with this syntax.

    tbl_summary(statistic = list(age = "{mean}", response = "{n}"))

  3. Hybrid Named List/List of Formulas

    Pass a combination of formulas and named elements

    tbl_summary(statistic = list(age = "{mean}", all_categorical() ~ "{n}"))

  4. Shortcuts

    You can pass a single formula, which is equivalent to passing the formula in a list.

    tbl_summary(statistic = all_categorical() ~ "{n}")

    As a shortcut to select all variables, you can omit the LHS of the formula. The two calls below are equivalent.

    tbl_summary(statistic = ~"{n}")
    tbl_summary(statistic = everything() ~ "{n}")

  5. Combination Selectors

    Selectors can be combined using the c() function.

    tbl_summary(statistic = c(everything(), -grade) ~ "{n}")