R: Returns first non-NA value from a set of vectors.

use_first_valid_of {janitor} | R Documentation

## Returns first non-NA value from a set of vectors.

### Description

At each position of the input vectors, iterates through in order and returns the first non-NA value. This is a robust replacement of the common `ifelse(!is.na(x), x, ifelse(!is.na(y), y, z))`. It's more readable and handles problems like `ifelse`'s inability to work with dates in this way.

### Usage

    use_first_valid_of(..., if_all_NA = NA)

### Arguments

`...` | the input vectors. Order matters: these are searched and prioritized in the order they are supplied.
`if_all_NA` | what value should be used when all of the vectors return `NA` for a certain index? Default is NA.

### Value

Returns a single vector with the selected values.

### Warning

Deprecated, do not use in new code. Use `dplyr::coalesce()` instead.

### See Also

janitor_deprecated

[Package janitor version 1.0.0 Index]