Subset data frame where values are greater than another data frame - r

Question

Say I have a data frame with 3 columns of data (a,b,c) and 1 column of categories with multiple instances of each category (class).
set.seed(273)
a <- floor(runif(20,0,100))
b <- floor(runif(20,0,100))
c <- floor(runif(20,0,100))
class <- floor(runif(20,0,6))
df1 <- data.frame(a,b,c,class)
print(df1)
a b c class
1 31 73 28 3
2 44 33 57 3
3 19 35 53 0
4 68 70 39 4
5 92 7 57 2
6 13 67 23 3
7 73 50 14 2
8 59 14 91 5
9 37 3 72 5
10 27 3 13 4
11 63 28 0 5
12 51 7 35 4
13 11 36 76 3
14 72 25 8 5
15 23 24 6 3
16 15 1 16 5
17 55 24 5 5
18 2 54 39 1
19 54 95 20 3
20 60 39 65 1
And I have another data frame with the same 3 columns of data and category column, however this only has one instance per category (class).
a <- floor(runif(6,0,20))
b <- floor(runif(6,0,20))
c <- floor(runif(6,0,20))
class <- seq(0,5)
df2 <- data.frame(a,b,c,class)
print(df2)
a b c class
1 8 15 13 0
2 0 3 6 1
3 14 4 0 2
4 7 10 6 3
5 18 18 16 4
6 17 17 11 5
How to I subset the first data frame so that only rows where a, b, and c are all greater than the value in the second data frame for each class? For example, I only want rows where class == 0 if a > 8 & b > 15 & c > 13.
Note that I don't want to join the data frames, as the second data frame is the lowest acceptable value for the the first data frame.

Answer 1

As commented by Frank this can be done with non-equi joins.
# coerce to data.table
tmp <- setDT(df1)[
# non-equi join to find which rows of df1 fulfill conditions in df2
setDT(df2), on = .(class, a > a, b > b, c > c), rn, nomatch = 0L, which = TRUE]
# return subset in original order of df1
df1[sort(tmp)]
a b c class
1: 31 73 28 3
2: 44 33 57 3
3: 19 35 53 0
4: 68 70 39 4
5: 92 7 57 2
6: 13 67 23 3
7: 73 50 14 2
8: 11 36 76 3
9: 2 54 39 1
10: 54 95 20 3
11: 60 39 65 1
The parameter which = TRUE returns a vector of the matching row numbers instead of the joined data set. This saves us from creating a row id column before the join. (Credit to #Frank for reminding me of the which parameter!)
Note that there is no row in df1 which fulfills the condition for class == 5 in df2. Therefore, the parameter nomatch = 0L is used to exclude non-matching rows from the result.
This can be put together in a "one-liner":
setDT(df1)[sort(df1[setDT(df2), on = .(class, a > a, b > b, c > c), nomatch = 0L, which = TRUE])]