Inconsistency in text_replace with underscores in html and latex

[AaronGullickson]

Prework

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Description

If you want to replace text that includes an underscore (e.g. "test_x") using text_replace or text_transform, the required pattern is different for HTML output and LaTeX output. For HTML output, you can use the underscore directly, while for latex you must double escape it (e.g. test\\\\_x). See the reproducible example below which will produce different results when rendered to HTML rather than PDF.

I experimented with several other special characters (*, :, -, and .). All of these characters worked fine in both formats without double-escaping, so this appears to be a specific problem with underscores.

Reproducible example

• Post a minimal reproducible example so the maintainer can troubleshoot the problems you identify. A reproducible example is:
  • Runnable: post enough R code and data so any onlooker can create the error on their own computer.
  • Minimal: reduce runtime wherever possible and remove complicated details that are irrelevant to the issue at hand.
  • Readable: format your code according to the tidyverse style guide.

---
title: "Test"
format:
  html: default
  pdf:
    keep-tex: true
---

```{r}
#| include: false

library(gt)
library(tidyverse)
```

```{r}
tbl <- tibble(
  names = c("test_x", "test_y", "test_z"),
  col1 = 1:3,
  col2 = 4:6
)

tbl |>
  gt() |>
  text_replace(pattern = "test_x", replacement = "Worked!")

tbl |>
  gt() |>
  text_replace(pattern = "test\\\\_y", replacement = "Worked!")

```

```{r}
sessionInfo()
```

Expected result

The result should be the same in HTML and PDF. Preferably, you would be able to run the pattern without double-escaping.

Session info

End the reproducible example with a call to sessionInfo() in the same session (e.g. reprex(session_info = TRUE)) and include the output.

R version 4.3.2 (2023-10-31)
Platform: aarch64-apple-darwin20 (64-bit)
Running under: macOS Sonoma 14.3.1

Matrix products: default
BLAS:   /System/Library/Frameworks/Accelerate.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/vecLib.framework/Versions/A/libBLAS.dylib 
LAPACK: /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.3-arm64/Resources/lib/libRlapack.dylib;  LAPACK version 3.11.0

locale:
[1] en_US.UTF-8/en_US.UTF-8/en_US.UTF-8/C/en_US.UTF-8/en_US.UTF-8

time zone: America/Los_Angeles
tzcode source: internal

attached base packages:
[1] stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  methods   base     

other attached packages:
 [1] lubridate_1.9.3 forcats_1.0.0   stringr_1.5.1   dplyr_1.1.4     purrr_1.0.2     readr_2.1.5    
 [7] tidyr_1.3.1     tibble_3.2.1    ggplot2_3.4.4   tidyverse_2.0.0 gt_0.10.1.9000 

loaded via a namespace (and not attached):
 [1] gtable_0.3.4      xfun_0.42         htmlwidgets_1.6.4 devtools_2.4.5    remotes_2.4.2.1  
 [6] processx_3.8.3    callr_3.7.3       tzdb_0.4.0        ps_1.7.6          vctrs_0.6.5      
[11] tools_4.3.2       generics_0.1.3    curl_5.2.0        fansi_1.0.6       pkgconfig_2.0.3  
[16] desc_1.4.3        lifecycle_1.0.4   compiler_4.3.2    munsell_0.5.0     httpuv_1.6.14    
[21] htmltools_0.5.7   usethis_2.2.2     sass_0.4.8        pillar_1.9.0      later_1.3.2      
[26] urlchecker_1.0.1  ellipsis_0.3.2    cachem_1.0.8      sessioninfo_1.2.2 mime_0.12        
[31] commonmark_1.9.1  tidyselect_1.2.0  digest_0.6.34     stringi_1.8.3     fastmap_1.1.1    
[36] grid_4.3.2        colorspace_2.1-0  cli_3.6.2         magrittr_2.0.3    pkgbuild_1.4.3   
[41] utf8_1.2.4        withr_3.0.0       scales_1.3.0      promises_1.2.1    timechange_0.3.0 
[46] hms_1.1.3         memoise_2.0.1     shiny_1.8.0       knitr_1.45        miniUI_0.1.1.1   
[51] markdown_1.12     profvis_0.3.8     rlang_1.1.3       Rcpp_1.0.12       xtable_1.8-4     
[56] glue_1.7.0        xml2_1.3.6        pkgload_1.3.4     rstudioapi_0.15.0 R6_2.5.1         
[61] fs_1.6.3