Unnest a list column directly into several columns

Question

Can I unnest a list column directly into n columns?

The list can be assumed to regular, with all elements being of equal length.

If instead of a lis

Answer 1

Another one:

library(tibble)
library(dplyr)

df1 <- data_frame(
  gr = c('a', 'b', 'c'),
  values = list(1:2, 3:4, 5:6)
)

df %>% mutate(V1 = sapply(values, "[[", 1), V2 = sapply(values, "[[", 2))

# A tibble: 3 x 4
  gr    values       V1    V2
        
1 a          1     2
2 b          3     4
3 c          5     6

Edit:

When the listed vectors are very long, and writing by hand V1 = sapply(values, "[[", index) is not convenient, then you can combine it with f_interp from lazyeval:

library(tibble)
library(dplyr)
library(lazyeval)
df <- data_frame(gr = c('a', 'b', 'c'), values = list(1:11, 3:13, 5:15))
nums <- c(1:11)
ll <- lapply(nums, function(nr) f_interp(~sapply(values, "[[", uq(nr))))
mutate_(df, .dots=setNames(ll, paste("V", nums, sep="")))

# A tibble: 3 x 12
  gr    values        V1    V2    V3    V4    V5    V6    V7    V8    V9   V10
                 
1 a          1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9    10
2 b          3     4     5     6     7     8     9    10    11    12
3 c          5     6     7     8     9    10    11    12    13    14