NEWS

joyn 0.3.0.9000

Minimum R version: Now requires R ≥ 4.2.0 (previously R ≥ 2.10.0) due to use of native pipe operator (|>) introduced in R 4.1.0 and uses the pipe placeholder syntax added in R 4.2.0. Users on R 4.0.x must upgrade to use this version.
Default verbosity: possible_ids.verbose default changed from TRUE to FALSE to reduce console output by default.

Variable class validation: New internal function check_var_class() validates that join (by) variables have supported classes (character, integer, numeric, factor, logical, Date, POSIXct, fs_path). Warns users when unsupported classes (e.g., list, complex, raw) are detected and suggests coercion.
Variable filtering helper: New filter_vars() function simplifies inclusion/exclusion of variables based on names or classes in possible_ids() and related functions.
Test data helper: New make_test_data() function provides standardized test datasets to improve test maintainability.

Zero-row input handling: check_xy() now detects and reports when input tables have zero rows (previously would silently proceed).
Enhanced by expression support: Improved handling of by expressions (e.g., "x == y"). Temporary keys are now created only when necessary, and original column names are preserved when possible, reducing unnecessary data.table modifications.
CI/CD updates: GitHub Actions workflow upgraded from upload-artifact@v3 to v4 for better compatibility.
Dependencies: Added glue package to Imports for improved string interpolation in messages.

Test suite improvements: Rewrote and expanded test coverage in test-checks.R to use helper data and explicit expectations. Added error tests for unsupported by variable types and formats.
Documentation updates: Added complete documentation for check_var_class(), filter_vars(), and other internal helpers. Updated man/possible_ids.Rd to reflect new default parameter values.
Code formatting: Minor formatting improvements throughout codebase for consistency.

Improve displaying messages. Now, they are clickable.
Improve algorithm to find variables that work as possible IDs see possible_ids().
Improve algorithm in is_id() and freq_table().

Fix bug where the left join did not work when updating values and a full join was maintained.

Add anti_join() function.
Add unmask_joyn() function to unmask joyn functions that mask dplyr equivalents.
Add information about duplicated obs in by variable when match type is 1 rathern than m.
improve inefficiencies in deep copies with m:m joins
Replace m:m joins from data.table::merge.data.table to collapse::join. Thanks to @SebKrantz for the suggestion (#58).
Add information about duplicated obs in by variable when match type is 1 rather than m.
Internal: improve storing of joyn messages.
Improve creation of reporting variable. Now, it is created in [collapse::join] rather than in joyn function. In addition, the reporting variable is created as factor to improve performance. Thanks to @SebKrantz for the suggestion (#58)

Now, by default, joyn will not sort the data. This is to avoid unnecessary computational time that most of the time is not needed. If the user wants to sort the data, they can use the sort argument, which triggers the sorting mechanism of collapse package.
report variable (named ".join" by default) is now a factor instead of character. Yet, users can still use character if they want with the reporttype = "character".

Function joyn::merge() was replaced by joyn::joyn(). This is now the main function of the joyn package.
Arguments allow.cartesian, yvars, and keep_y_in_x have been deprecated. The latter two have been replaced by y_vars_to_keep and keep_common_vars, respectively. The new argument names bring more clarity about what they arguments do.

New function joyn::merge() works as a mask for the base::merge() or data.table::merge.data.table(). joyn::merge() has the same features as the previous two, but includes the features of joyn::joyn().
Messages style have been improved and categorized. See message vignette for more information.
New functions to mimic dplyr joins. The joyn variants have all the features for joyn::joyn() but lack some of the most advance features of dplyr joins like joyn::join_by()

update_NAs now could be FALSE even if update_values is TRUE
Select rows-to-keep before transformation of updated values and NAs to avoid keeping rows from y that did not match in x but whose values got updated because update_values = TRUE
Solve issues #1 and #19
Change to data.table::merge.data.table syntax in all joins. It makes it easier to work with and consistent across different join types.
Remove previous lazy-loaded data.

Add function possible_ids() to identify what variables are suitable for uniquely identify the database.

Add function is_id() to check whether the table is uniquely identified by key variables
Add function freq_table() as a substitute for janitor::tabyl. This makes it more convenient for users who do not have janitor installed.

Fix bug on by argument when using "=" or "==".

First Public release