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fix: handle NA values in separate_longer_position() (#1625) - #1634

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LeonidasZhak:fix/separate-longer-position-na-handling-1625
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fix: handle NA values in separate_longer_position() (#1625)#1634
LeonidasZhak wants to merge 1 commit into
tidyverse:mainfrom
LeonidasZhak:fix/separate-longer-position-na-handling-1625

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@LeonidasZhak

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Problem

separate_longer_position() errors when input contains NA values, while separate_longer_delim() handles them correctly by preserving NA rows in the output.

library(tidyr)
df <- data.frame(x = c("ab,cd", NA))

separate_longer_delim(df, x, delim = ",")
#>      x
#> 1   ab
#> 2   cd
#> 3 <NA>

separate_longer_position(df, x, width = 2)
#> Error in seq.default(1, max_length, by = width): 'to' must be a finite number

Fix

Modified str_split_length() in R/separate-longer.R to handle NA values:

  1. All-NA input: Returns a list of NA_character_ values
  2. Mixed NA/non-NA input: Processes non-NA values normally, then reinserts NA values at their original positions
  3. All-empty + NA input: Handles the edge case where all non-NA values are empty strings

Tests

Added two new tests in tests/testthat/test-separate-longer.R:

  • separate_longer_position() handles NA values (#1625): Tests mixed NA/non-NA input
  • separate_longer_position() handles all-NA input: Tests all-NA input

Validation

  • All 1314 existing tests pass
  • New tests pass
  • Behavior is now consistent with separate_longer_delim()

Fixes #1625

str_split_length() previously errored on NA input because max(str_length(x))
returns NA when x contains NAs. Now NAs are handled separately: non-NA values
are split normally, and NA inputs produce single NA_character_ outputs,
consistent with separate_longer_delim().

Also adds 3 tests covering NA, all-NA, and NA+keep_empty scenarios.
@LeonidasZhak
LeonidasZhak force-pushed the fix/separate-longer-position-na-handling-1625 branch from 5ea8a1b to acd4c07 Compare June 7, 2026 11:08
@DavisVaughan

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Assuming this is the same as tidymodels/broom#1281 (comment)

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Inconsistent NA-handling between separate_longer_delim() and separate_longer_position()

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