Unexpected behavior by str_remove_* in stringr package
Solution 1:
The parens in your current_house are being interpreted as regex groups. Use stringr::fixed to fix that:
setDT(df)
df[, temp2 := str_remove(temp, current_house) # initial, not working
][, temp3 := str_remove(temp, fixed(current_house)) # working
][]
# temp current_house temp2 temp3
# <char> <char> <char> <char>
# 1: Lazard 528 2 Lazard 528 2 528 2
# 2: KPMG 525 1 KPMG 525 1 525 1
# 3: KPMG 525 1 KPMG 525 1 525 1
# 4: KPMG 524 4 KPMG 524 4 524 4
# 5: KPMG 524 4 KPMG 524 4 524 4
# 6: KPMG 524 4 KPMG 524 4 524 4
# 7: KPMG 524 4 KPMG 524 4 524 4
# 8: Development and Investment Bank of T... Development and Investment Bank of T... Development and Investment Bank of T... 524 4
# 9: Development and Investment Bank of T... Development and Investment Bank of T... Development and Investment Bank of T... 524 4
# 10: Development and Investment Bank of T... Development and Investment Bank of T... Development and Investment Bank of T... 524 4
# ---
# 31: LionTree Advisors, LLC 500 1 LionTree Advisors, LLC 500 1 500 1
# 32: Ping'an Securities Co.,Ltd. 496 1 Ping'an Securities Co.,Ltd. 496 1 496 1
# 33: Ping'an Securities Co.,Ltd. 496 1 Ping'an Securities Co.,Ltd. 496 1 496 1
# 34: Ping'an Securities Co.,Ltd. 496 1 Ping'an Securities Co.,Ltd. 496 1 496 1
# 35: Ping'an Securities Co.,Ltd. 496 1 Ping'an Securities Co.,Ltd. 496 1 496 1
# 36: Ping'an Securities Co.,Ltd. 496 1 Ping'an Securities Co.,Ltd. 496 1 496 1
# 37: Ping'an Securities Co.,Ltd. 496 1 Ping'an Securities Co.,Ltd. 496 1 496 1
# 38: Guotai Junan Securities Co Ltd 496 1 Guotai Junan Securities Co Ltd 496 1 496 1
# 39: Guotai Junan Securities Co Ltd 496 1 Guotai Junan Securities Co Ltd 496 1 496 1
# 40: EY 493 16 EY 493 16 493 16
You might want to wrap str_remove with trimws(.), since temp3 here has leading blanks:
head(df$temp3)
# [1] " 528 2" " 525 1" " 525 1" " 524 4" " 524 4" " 524 4"
df[, temp3 := trimws(str_remove(temp, fixed(current_house)))]
head(df$temp3)
# [1] "528 2" "525 1" "525 1" "524 4" "524 4" "524 4"