dplyr arrange by reverse alphabetical order [duplicate]

Question

I'm curious why the arrange function won't will work for alphabetical order but not reverse alphabetical order.

df <- data.frame(string = as.character(c("b", "a", "c")), stringsAsFactors = F) df %>% arrange(string) #works df %>% arrange(-string) #does not work

Am I just using the completely wrong method for what I'm trying to accomplish?

In ?arrange, there's a desc() function you can use. Fyi, if you have a data.table, it does work with your attempt: library(data.table); setDT(df); df %>% arrange(-string), though this is probably a dtplyr bug. — Frank
– Frank, Commented Nov 6, 2017 at 19:18
- in dplyr generally means "excluding` something, so I think it's better to not use - for descending in arrange — acylam
– acylam, Commented Nov 6, 2017 at 19:37

MrFlick · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-06 19:18:40Z

31

From the ?arrange help page, use desc()

df %>% arrange(desc(string))

answered Nov 6, 2017 at 19:18

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