Help for package sumExtras

Title:

Extra Functions for 'gtsummary' Table Styling

Version:

1.0.0

Description:

Provides additional convenience functions for 'gtsummary' (Sjoberg et al. (2021) <doi:10.32614/RJ-2021-053>) & 'gt' tables, including automatic variable labeling from dictionaries, standardized missing value display, and consistent formatting helpers for streamlined table styling workflows.

License:

MIT + file LICENSE

Encoding:

UTF-8

RoxygenNote:

7.3.3

Depends:

R (≥ 4.1.0)

Suggests:

broom (≥ 1.0.5), broom.helpers (≥ 1.20.0), knitr, labelled, survey, testthat (≥ 3.0.0), tibble

VignetteBuilder:

knitr

Config/testthat/edition:

Imports:

dplyr, gt (≥ 0.9.0), gtsummary (≥ 1.7.0), rlang

URL:

https://github.com/kyleGrealis/sumExtras, https://www.kyleGrealis.com/sumExtras/

BugReports:

https://github.com/kyleGrealis/sumExtras/issues

NeedsCompilation:

Packaged:

2026-02-11 22:24:35 UTC; kyle

Author:

Kyle Grealis

[aut, cre], Raymond Balise

[ctb], Daniel Maya

[ctb]

Maintainer:

Kyle Grealis <kyleGrealis@proton.me>

Repository:

CRAN

Date/Publication:

2026-02-11 22:50:02 UTC

sumExtras: Extra Functions for 'gtsummary' Table Styling

Description

Provides additional convenience functions for 'gtsummary' (Sjoberg et al. (2021) doi:10.32614/RJ-2021-053) & 'gt' tables, including automatic variable labeling from dictionaries, standardized missing value display, and consistent formatting helpers for streamlined table styling workflows.

Main Functions

extras() - Overall columns, p-values, clean styling
clean_table() - Standardize missing value display
add_auto_labels() - Automatic variable labeling
use_jama_theme() - JAMA compact theme for gtsummary
theme_gt_compact() - JAMA-style compact theme for gt
add_group_styling() - Format grouped table headers
add_group_colors() - Group colors with gt conversion

Important Notes on Package Dependencies

gtsummary Internals: This package depends on internal structures of the gtsummary package (specifically tbl$call_list, tbl$inputs, and tbl$table_body). Compatibility is maintained where possible, but major gtsummary updates may require sumExtras updates.

Minimum Versions: Requires gtsummary >= 1.7.0 and gt >= 0.9.0 for the necessary internal structures.

Testing: Test your workflows after gtsummary updates, especially major version changes.

Author(s)

Maintainer: Kyle Grealis kyleGrealis@proton.me (ORCID)

Other contributors:

Raymond Balise balise@miami.edu (ORCID) [contributor]
Daniel Maya dheal.maya@gmail.com (ORCID) [contributor]

Examples


# Basic workflow with extras()
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  extras()

# Complete workflow with styling
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt, include = c(age, marker, grade, stage)) |>
  extras() |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Patient Characteristics",
    variables = age:stage
  ) |>
  add_group_styling() |>
  add_group_colors()

Add automatic labels from dictionary to a gtsummary table

Description

Applies variable labels from a dictionary or label attributes to tbl_summary, tbl_svysummary, or tbl_regression objects. Preserves manual label overrides set in the original table call. The dictionary can be passed explicitly or will be searched for in the calling environment. If no dictionary is found, the function reads label attributes from the underlying data.

Usage

add_auto_labels(tbl, dictionary)

Arguments

tbl

A gtsummary table object created by tbl_summary(), tbl_svysummary(), or tbl_regression().

dictionary

A data frame or tibble with columns named variable and description (column name matching is case-insensitive). If not provided (missing), the function will search for a dictionary object in the environment. If no dictionary is found, the function will attempt to read label attributes from the data. Set to NULL explicitly to skip dictionary search and only use attributes.

Details

Label Priority Hierarchy

The function applies labels according to this priority (highest to lowest):

Manual labels – Labels set via label = list(...) in tbl_summary() etc. are always preserved
Attribute labels – Labels from attr(data$var, "label")
Dictionary labels – Labels from the dictionary data frame
Default – If no label source is available, uses variable name

Set options(sumExtras.prefer_dictionary = TRUE) to swap priorities 2 and 3 so that dictionary labels take precedence over attribute labels. See vignette("options") for details.

Dictionary Format

The dictionary must be a data frame with columns (column names are case-insensitive):

variable: Character column with exact variable names from datasets
description: Character column with human-readable labels

Label Attributes

The function reads label attributes from data using attr(data$var, "label"), following the same convention used by haven, Hmisc, and ggplot2 4.0+. If your data already has labels (from imported files, other packages, or manual assignment), this function picks them up automatically.

Implementation Note

This function relies on internal gtsummary structures (tbl$call_list, tbl$inputs, tbl$table_body) to detect manually set labels. Major updates to gtsummary may require corresponding updates to sumExtras. Requires gtsummary >= 1.7.0.

Value

A gtsummary table object with labels applied. Manual labels set via label = list(...) in the original table call are always preserved.

Examples


# Create a dictionary
my_dict <- tibble::tribble(
  ~variable, ~description,
  "age", "Age at Enrollment",
  "trt", "Treatment Group",
  "grade", "Tumor Grade"
)

# Strip built-in labels so dictionary labels are visible
trial_data <- gtsummary::trial
for (col in names(trial_data)) attr(trial_data[[col]], "label") <- NULL

# Pass dictionary explicitly
trial_data |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt, include = c(age, grade)) |>
  add_auto_labels(dictionary = my_dict)

# Automatic dictionary search (dictionary in environment)
dictionary <- my_dict
trial_data |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt, include = c(age, grade)) |>
  add_auto_labels() # Finds dictionary automatically

# Working with pre-labeled data (no dictionary needed)
labeled_data <- gtsummary::trial
attr(labeled_data$age, "label") <- "Patient Age (years)"
attr(labeled_data$marker, "label") <- "Marker Level (ng/mL)"

labeled_data |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(include = c(age, marker)) |>
  add_auto_labels() # Reads from label attributes

# Manual overrides always win
trial_data |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(
    by = trt,
    include = c(age, grade),
    label = list(age ~ "Custom Age Label") # Manual override
  ) |>
  add_auto_labels(dictionary = my_dict) # grade: dict, age: manual

Add background colors to group headers with automatic gt conversion

Description

Convenience function that adds background colors to variable group headers and converts the table to gt. This is a terminal operation that combines get_group_rows(), gtsummary::as_gt(), and gt::tab_style() into a single pipeable function.

For text formatting (bold/italic), use add_group_styling() before calling this function.

Usage

add_group_colors(tbl, color = "#E8E8E8")

Arguments

tbl

A gtsummary table object with variable group headers created by gtsummary::add_variable_group_header()

color

Background color(s) for group headers. Default "#E8E8E8" (light gray). Accepts a single color (applied to all groups) or a vector of colors (one per group). Can be any valid CSS color (hex code, color name, rgb(), etc.).

Details

This function:

Identifies group header rows with get_group_rows()
Converts the table to gt with gtsummary::as_gt()
Applies background color using gt::tab_style()

Since this function converts to gt, it should be used as the final styling step in your pipeline. Apply all gtsummary functions (like modify_caption(), modify_footnote(), etc.) and text formatting with add_group_styling() before calling add_group_colors().

Value

A gt table object with colored group headers. Note: This is a terminal operation that converts to gt. You cannot pipe to additional gtsummary functions after calling this function.

Examples


# Basic usage - text formatting then color
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  extras() |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Patient Characteristics",
    variables = age:stage
  ) |>
  add_group_styling() |>
  add_group_colors()

# Custom color - light blue
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  extras() |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Baseline Characteristics",
    variables = age:marker
  ) |>
  add_group_styling() |>
  add_group_colors(color = "#E3F2FD")

# Bold only formatting with custom color
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  extras() |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Clinical Measures",
    variables = marker:stage
  ) |>
  add_group_styling(format = "bold") |>
  add_group_colors(color = "#FFF9E6")

# Multiple group headers with same color
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  extras() |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Demographics",
    variables = age
  ) |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Disease Measures",
    variables = marker:response
  ) |>
  add_group_styling() |>
  add_group_colors(color = "#E8E8E8")

# Different colors per group
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  extras() |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Demographics",
    variables = age
  ) |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Disease Measures",
    variables = marker:response
  ) |>
  add_group_styling() |>
  add_group_colors(color = c("#E3F2FD", "#FFF9E6"))

Apply styling to variable group headers in gtsummary tables

Description

Adds customizable formatting to variable group headers in gtsummary tables. Variable groups are created using gtsummary::add_variable_group_header() to organize variables into sections. This function makes group headers stand out from individual variable labels.

Usage

add_group_styling(tbl, format = c("bold", "italic"), indent_labels = 0L)

Arguments

tbl

A gtsummary table object (e.g., from tbl_summary(), tbl_regression())

format

Character vector specifying text formatting. Options include "bold", "italic", or both. Default is c("bold", "italic").

indent_labels

Integer specifying indentation level (in spaces) for variable labels under group headers. Default is 0L (left-aligned). Set to 4L to preserve gtsummary's default group indentation, or use any non-negative integer for custom spacing.

Details

The function targets rows where row_type == 'variable_group' and applies the specified text formatting to the label column.

By default, variable labels are left-aligned (indent_labels = 0L) to distinguish them from categorical levels and statistics. Use indent_labels = 4L to preserve the default gtsummary behavior where grouped variables are indented under their group headers.

Value

A gtsummary table object with specified formatting applied to variable group headers

Examples


# Default formatting (bold and italic)
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt, include = c(age, marker, grade)) |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Patient Characteristics",
    variables = age:grade
  ) |>
  add_group_styling()

# Bold only
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt, include = c(age, marker)) |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Demographics",
    variables = age:marker
  ) |>
  add_group_styling(format = "bold")

# Multiple group headers
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Demographics",
    variables = age
  ) |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Clinical Measures",
    variables = marker:response
  ) |>
  add_group_styling()

# Custom indentation for grouped variables
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt, include = c(age, marker)) |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Patient Measures",
    variables = age:marker
  ) |>
  add_group_styling(indent_labels = 4L) # gtsummary indentation restored

Standardize missing value display across all gtsummary table types

Description

Replaces various missing value representations with a consistent symbol (default "---") so it is easier to tell actual data from missing or undefined values.

Works with all gtsummary table types, including stacked tables (tbl_strata) and survey-weighted summaries (tbl_svysummary). Handles tables with or without the standard var_type column.

Usage

clean_table(tbl, symbol = "---")

Arguments

tbl

A gtsummary table object (e.g., from tbl_summary(), tbl_svysummary(), tbl_regression(), or tbl_strata())

symbol

Character string to replace missing values with. Default is "---" (em-dash style). Common alternatives: "\u2014" (em-dash), "\u2013" (en-dash), "--", or "N/A".

Details

The function uses gtsummary::modify_table_body() to transform character columns and replace missing, undefined, and zero-valued patterns with a consistent symbol. Matched patterns include:

Literal NA and Inf / -Inf values
Count/percent pairs: "0 (0%)", "0 (NA%)", "0 (NA)", "NA (0)", "NA (NA)"
Decimal variants: "0.00 (0.00)", "0.00% (0.00)", "0% (0.000)"
Paired values: "NA, NA"
Confidence intervals: "NA (NA, NA)", "0% (0.000) (0%, 0%)", "0.00 (0.00) (0.00, 0.00)", and similar zero-CI patterns

Replacing these patterns with a single symbol keeps the table easier to read.

Note: The function checks for the presence of var_type column before applying modify_missing_symbol(). This allows it to work with tbl_strata objects which use var_type_1, var_type_2, etc. instead of var_type.

Value

A gtsummary table object with standardized missing value display

Examples


# Basic usage - clean missing values in summary table
demo_trial <- gtsummary::trial |>
  dplyr::mutate(
    age = dplyr::if_else(trt == "Drug B", 0, age),
    marker = dplyr::if_else(trt == "Drug A", NA, marker)
  ) |>
  dplyr::select(trt, age, marker)

demo_trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  clean_table()

# Used inside extras() automatically
demo_trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  extras()

# Custom missing symbol
demo_trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  clean_table(symbol = "???")

Add standard styling and formatting to gtsummary tables

Description

Applies a consistent set of formatting options to gtsummary tables including overall column, bold labels, clean headers, and optional p-values. Wraps the common workflow of adding multiple formatting functions into one call. Always succeeds by applying what works and warning about the rest.

Usage

extras(
  tbl,
  pval = TRUE,
  overall = TRUE,
  last = FALSE,
  header = "",
  symbol = "---",
  .args = NULL,
  .add_p_args = NULL
)

Arguments

tbl

A gtsummary table object (e.g., from tbl_summary(), tbl_regression())

pval

Logical indicating whether to add p-values. Default is TRUE. When TRUE, uses gtsummary's default statistical tests (Kruskal-Wallis for continuous variables with 3+ groups, chi-square for categorical variables).

overall

Logical indicating whether to add overall column

last

Logical indicating if Overall column should be last. Aligns with default from gtsummary::add_overall().

header

Character string for the label column header. Default is "" (blank). Use "Characteristic" or any custom text.

symbol

Character string for missing value replacement in clean_table(). Default is "---". Passed directly to clean_table(symbol = ...).

.args

Optional list of arguments to use instead of individual parameters. When provided, overrides pval, overall, last, header, and symbol arguments.

.add_p_args

Optional named list of arguments to pass to gtsummary::add_p(). Allows customization of statistical tests and p-value formatting. User-provided arguments override the default arguments (pvalue_fun and test.args). See gtsummary::add_p() documentation for available arguments.

Details

The function applies the following modifications (in order):

Bolds variable labels for emphasis (all table types)
Removes the "Characteristic" header label (all table types)
Adds an "Overall" column (only stratified summary tables)
Optionally adds p-values with bold significance (only stratified summary tables)
Applies automatic labels if options are set (see Options section)
Applies clean_table() styling (all table types)

The function automatically detects whether the input table is stratified (has a by argument) and what type of table it is (tbl_summary, tbl_regression, tbl_strata, etc.).

For tables that don't support overall columns or p-values (non-stratified tables, regression tables, or stacked tables), the function warns and applies only basic formatting (bold_labels and modify_header).

For merged tables (tbl_merge), call extras() on each sub-table before merging. All formatting carries through.

If any individual step fails (e.g., due to unexpected table structure), the function warns and continues without that feature.

Value

A gtsummary table object with standard formatting applied

Options

Set options(sumExtras.auto_labels = TRUE) for automatic labeling. See vignette("options") for details.

Pipeline Ordering

Call extras() before add_variable_group_header() and add_group_colors() last. See vignette("sumExtras-intro").

Table Type Support

Full features (overall, p-values, bold p-values) require a stratified tbl_summary or tbl_svysummary. Regression tables get bold labels, bold model p-values, header cleaning, and clean_table(). Stacked (tbl_strata) and merged (tbl_merge) tables get bold labels, header cleaning, and clean_table(). Warnings only fire when the user explicitly requests unsupported features (e.g., overall = TRUE on a non-stratified table).

Examples


# With p-values (default)
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  extras()

# Using .args list
extra_args <- list(pval = TRUE, overall = TRUE, last = FALSE)
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  extras(.args = extra_args)

# Without p-values
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  extras(pval = FALSE)

# Custom header text
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  extras(header = "Variable")

# Customize add_p() behavior
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt) |>
  extras(.add_p_args = list(
    test = list(age ~ "t.test", marker ~ "t.test"),
    pvalue_fun = ~ gtsummary::style_pvalue(.x, digits = 2)
  ))

Get row numbers of variable group headers for gt styling

Description

Extracts the row indices of variable group headers from a gtsummary table. This is useful for applying background colors or other gt-specific styling after converting a gtsummary table to gt with as_gt().

Usage

get_group_rows(tbl)

Arguments

tbl

A gtsummary table object with variable group headers created by gtsummary::add_variable_group_header()

Details

Variable group headers are identified by row_type == 'variable_group' in the table body. The returned row numbers can be used with gt::tab_style() to apply styling like background colors after converting to a gt table.

This function should be called BEFORE converting the table with as_gt(), as the row type information is only available in gtsummary table objects.

Value

An integer vector of row numbers where variable_group headers are located

Examples


# Create table with variable groups
my_tbl <- gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt, include = c(age, marker, grade, stage)) |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Demographics",
    variables = age
  ) |>
  gtsummary::add_variable_group_header(
    header = "Clinical",
    variables = marker:stage
  ) |>
  add_group_styling()

# Get group row numbers before conversion
group_rows <- get_group_rows(my_tbl)

# Convert to gt and apply gray background
my_tbl |>
  gtsummary::as_gt() |>
  gt::tab_style(
    style = gt::cell_fill(color = "#E8E8E8"),
    locations = gt::cells_body(rows = group_rows)
  )

Apply compact JAMA-style theme to gt tables

Description

Applies a compact table theme to gt tables that matches the 'jama' theme from gtsummary, so gtsummary and plain gt tables look the same in one document. Reduces padding, adjusts font sizes, and applies JAMA journal styling.

Usage

theme_gt_compact(tbl)

Arguments

tbl

A gt table object created with gt::gt()

Details

This function replicates the visual appearance of gtsummary::theme_gtsummary_compact("jama") for use with regular gt tables. Key styling includes:

Reduced font size (13px) for compact appearance
Minimal padding (1px) on all row types
Bold column headers and table titles
Hidden top and bottom table borders
Consistent spacing that matches JAMA journal standards

Value

A gt table object with compact JAMA-style formatting applied

Examples

# Basic usage with a data frame
mtcars |>
  head() |>
  gt::gt() |>
  theme_gt_compact()

# Combine with other gt functions
mtcars |>
  head() |>
  gt::gt() |>
  gt::tab_header(title = "Vehicle Data") |>
  theme_gt_compact()

# Use alongside gtsummary tables with sumExtras for consistency
# Set JAMA theme first
use_jama_theme()

# Then both tables will have matching appearance
summary_table <- gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary()

data_table <- gtsummary::trial |>
  head() |>
  gt::gt() |>
  theme_gt_compact()

Apply JAMA Compact Theme to gtsummary Tables

Description

Sets the global gtsummary theme to the JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) compact style. Reduces padding and applies JAMA journal styling. The theme stays active for the entire R session or until changed with another theme.

Usage

use_jama_theme(quiet = TRUE)

Arguments

quiet

Logical. If FALSE, prints a message confirming theme application. Default is TRUE (silent).

Details

The JAMA compact theme applies formatting standards from the Journal of the American Medical Association: 13px font, 1px cell padding, bold column headers, and clean borders.

The function checks for the gtsummary package and will stop with an informative error if it is not installed. The theme is applied globally and will affect all gtsummary tables created after calling this function, including tbl_summary(), tbl_regression(), tbl_cross(), tbl_strata(), and related functions.

For visual consistency with regular gt tables, use theme_gt_compact() which replicates the same styling for non-gtsummary tables.

Value

Invisibly returns the theme list object from gtsummary::theme_gtsummary_compact("jama"). The theme is applied globally via gtsummary::set_gtsummary_theme(), affecting all subsequent gtsummary tables created in the session.

Examples


# Apply theme at the start of your analysis
use_jama_theme()

# All subsequent gtsummary tables will use JAMA formatting
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt)

# Works with all gtsummary table types
lm(age ~ trt + grade, data = gtsummary::trial) |>
  gtsummary::tbl_regression()

# Combine with sumExtras styling functions
use_jama_theme()
gtsummary::trial |>
  gtsummary::tbl_summary(by = trt, include = c(age, marker, stage)) |>
  extras() |>
  add_group_styling()

# Reset to default theme if needed
gtsummary::reset_gtsummary_theme()

sumExtras: Extra Functions for 'gtsummary' Table Styling

Description

Main Functions

Important Notes on Package Dependencies

Author(s)

See Also

Examples

Add automatic labels from dictionary to a gtsummary table

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Label Priority Hierarchy

Dictionary Format

Label Attributes

Implementation Note

Value

See Also

Examples

Add background colors to group headers with automatic gt conversion

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

See Also

Examples

Apply styling to variable group headers in gtsummary tables

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

See Also

Examples

Standardize missing value display across all gtsummary table types

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

See Also

Examples

Add standard styling and formatting to gtsummary tables

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

Options

Pipeline Ordering

Table Type Support

See Also

Examples

Get row numbers of variable group headers for gt styling

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

See Also

Examples

Apply compact JAMA-style theme to gt tables

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

See Also

Examples

Apply JAMA Compact Theme to gtsummary Tables

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

See Also

Examples