Creating new columns with mutate() and across() - r

Question

This is a simplified version of the actual problem I'm dealing with. In this example, I'll be working with four columns, and the actual problem requires working with about 20-30 columns.
Consider the iris dataset. Suppose that I wanted to, for some reason, append new columns which would be equal to double the .Length and the .Width columns. With the following code, this would change the existing columns:
library(dplyr)
head(iris)
Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width Species
1 5.1 3.5 1.4 0.2 setosa
2 4.9 3.0 1.4 0.2 setosa
3 4.7 3.2 1.3 0.2 setosa
4 4.6 3.1 1.5 0.2 setosa
5 5.0 3.6 1.4 0.2 setosa
6 5.4 3.9 1.7 0.4 setosa
df_iris <- iris %>% mutate(across(matches("(\\.)(Length|Width)"),
function(x) { x * 2 }))
head(df_iris)
Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width Species
1 10.2 7.0 2.8 0.4 setosa
2 9.8 6.0 2.8 0.4 setosa
3 9.4 6.4 2.6 0.4 setosa
4 9.2 6.2 3.0 0.4 setosa
5 10.0 7.2 2.8 0.4 setosa
6 10.8 7.8 3.4 0.8 setosa
However, instead, I would like to have this doubled calculation create NEW columns, say .Length.2 and .Width.2. One way this could be done is the following:
double <- function(x) {
x * 2
}
df_iris <- iris %>%
mutate(Sepal.Length.2 = double(Sepal.Length),
Sepal.Width.2 = double(Sepal.Width),
Petal.Length.2 = double(Petal.Length),
Petal.Width.2 = double(Petal.Width))
head(df_iris)
Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width Species Sepal.Length.2 Sepal.Width.2 Petal.Length.2 Petal.Width.2
1 5.1 3.5 1.4 0.2 setosa 10.2 7.0 2.8 0.4
2 4.9 3.0 1.4 0.2 setosa 9.8 6.0 2.8 0.4
3 4.7 3.2 1.3 0.2 setosa 9.4 6.4 2.6 0.4
4 4.6 3.1 1.5 0.2 setosa 9.2 6.2 3.0 0.4
5 5.0 3.6 1.4 0.2 setosa 10.0 7.2 2.8 0.4
6 5.4 3.9 1.7 0.4 setosa 10.8 7.8 3.4 0.8
Is there a way to do this in dplyr without:
relying on superseded/deprecated functions?
having to manually specify each column name?

Answer 1

We can use across (used dplyr 1.0.6 version)
library(dplyr)
df_iris <- iris %>%
mutate(across(where(is.numeric), double, .names = '{.col}.2'))
-output
head(df_iris, 3)
Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width Species Sepal.Length.2 Sepal.Width.2 Petal.Length.2 Petal.Width.2
1 5.1 3.5 1.4 0.2 setosa 10.2 7.0 2.8 0.4
2 4.9 3.0 1.4 0.2 setosa 9.8 6.0 2.8 0.4
3 4.7 3.2 1.3 0.2 setosa 9.4 6.4 2.6 0.4