In `select` `!` and `-` work differently

[Moohan]

I'm not sure if this is intended behaviour but it came up in a recent training session and wasn't what we expected.

! and - seem interchangeable when used with c(...) but when prefix variables specified to select through ..., ! doesn't work. Hopefully the below reprex makes this clear.

---

library(dplyr)
#> 
#> Attaching package: 'dplyr'
#> The following objects are masked from 'package:stats':
#> 
#>     filter, lag
#> The following objects are masked from 'package:base':
#> 
#>     intersect, setdiff, setequal, union

# Works
starwars |> 
  select(-name, -height)
#> # A tibble: 87 × 12
#>     mass hair_color    skin_color  eye_color birth_year sex    gender  homeworld
#>    <dbl> <chr>         <chr>       <chr>          <dbl> <chr>  <chr>   <chr>    
#>  1    77 blond         fair        blue            19   male   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  2    75 <NA>          gold        yellow         112   none   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  3    32 <NA>          white, blue red             33   none   mascul… Naboo    
#>  4   136 none          white       yellow          41.9 male   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  5    49 brown         light       brown           19   female femini… Alderaan 
#>  6   120 brown, grey   light       blue            52   male   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  7    75 brown         light       blue            47   female femini… Tatooine 
#>  8    32 <NA>          white, red  red             NA   none   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  9    84 black         light       brown           24   male   mascul… Tatooine 
#> 10    77 auburn, white fair        blue-gray       57   male   mascul… Stewjon  
#> # ℹ 77 more rows
#> # ℹ 4 more variables: species <chr>, films <list>, vehicles <list>,
#> #   starships <list>

# Doesn't work
starwars |> 
  select(!name, !height)
#> # A tibble: 87 × 14
#>    height  mass hair_color    skin_color  eye_color birth_year sex    gender   
#>     <int> <dbl> <chr>         <chr>       <chr>          <dbl> <chr>  <chr>    
#>  1    172    77 blond         fair        blue            19   male   masculine
#>  2    167    75 <NA>          gold        yellow         112   none   masculine
#>  3     96    32 <NA>          white, blue red             33   none   masculine
#>  4    202   136 none          white       yellow          41.9 male   masculine
#>  5    150    49 brown         light       brown           19   female feminine 
#>  6    178   120 brown, grey   light       blue            52   male   masculine
#>  7    165    75 brown         light       blue            47   female feminine 
#>  8     97    32 <NA>          white, red  red             NA   none   masculine
#>  9    183    84 black         light       brown           24   male   masculine
#> 10    182    77 auburn, white fair        blue-gray       57   male   masculine
#> # ℹ 77 more rows
#> # ℹ 6 more variables: homeworld <chr>, species <chr>, films <list>,
#> #   vehicles <list>, starships <list>, name <chr>

# Works
starwars |> 
  select(-c(name, height))
#> # A tibble: 87 × 12
#>     mass hair_color    skin_color  eye_color birth_year sex    gender  homeworld
#>    <dbl> <chr>         <chr>       <chr>          <dbl> <chr>  <chr>   <chr>    
#>  1    77 blond         fair        blue            19   male   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  2    75 <NA>          gold        yellow         112   none   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  3    32 <NA>          white, blue red             33   none   mascul… Naboo    
#>  4   136 none          white       yellow          41.9 male   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  5    49 brown         light       brown           19   female femini… Alderaan 
#>  6   120 brown, grey   light       blue            52   male   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  7    75 brown         light       blue            47   female femini… Tatooine 
#>  8    32 <NA>          white, red  red             NA   none   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  9    84 black         light       brown           24   male   mascul… Tatooine 
#> 10    77 auburn, white fair        blue-gray       57   male   mascul… Stewjon  
#> # ℹ 77 more rows
#> # ℹ 4 more variables: species <chr>, films <list>, vehicles <list>,
#> #   starships <list>

# Works
starwars |> 
  select(!c(name, height))
#> # A tibble: 87 × 12
#>     mass hair_color    skin_color  eye_color birth_year sex    gender  homeworld
#>    <dbl> <chr>         <chr>       <chr>          <dbl> <chr>  <chr>   <chr>    
#>  1    77 blond         fair        blue            19   male   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  2    75 <NA>          gold        yellow         112   none   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  3    32 <NA>          white, blue red             33   none   mascul… Naboo    
#>  4   136 none          white       yellow          41.9 male   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  5    49 brown         light       brown           19   female femini… Alderaan 
#>  6   120 brown, grey   light       blue            52   male   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  7    75 brown         light       blue            47   female femini… Tatooine 
#>  8    32 <NA>          white, red  red             NA   none   mascul… Tatooine 
#>  9    84 black         light       brown           24   male   mascul… Tatooine 
#> 10    77 auburn, white fair        blue-gray       57   male   mascul… Stewjon  
#> # ℹ 77 more rows
#> # ℹ 4 more variables: species <chr>, films <list>, vehicles <list>,
#> #   starships <list>