methods-deprecated          package:methods          R Documentation

_D_e_p_r_e_c_a_t_e_d _F_u_n_c_t_i_o_n_s _i_n _M_e_t_h_o_d_s _p_a_c_k_a_g_e

_D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n:

     These functions are provided for compatibility with older versions
     of R only, and may be defunct as soon as the next release.

_U_s_a_g_e:

     getAllMethods(f, fdef, where)
     mlistMetaName (name, package)
     removeMethodsObject(f, where)

_D_e_t_a_i_l_s:

     The original help page for these functions is often available at
     'help("oldName-deprecated")' (note the quotes). Functions in
     packages other than the methods package are listed in
     'help("pkg-deprecated")'.

_S_u_m_m_a_r_y _o_f _F_u_n_c_t_i_o_n_s:


     '_g_e_t_A_l_l_M_e_t_h_o_d_s': This function replicates the behavior of
          'getMethods', which should be called instead to obtain
          approximately the old behavior of 'getAllMethods'.  However,
          a better substitution is to use 'findMethods', which returns
          a simpler structure.

          (The following is the original description, which has not
          been accurate since approximately version 2.5.0 of R.) 

          A generic function (with methods) representing the merge of
          all the methods defined for this generic starting from
          environment 'where', including all parent environments.  By
          default, uses the global environment (and therefore all
          packages on the search list).  This function exists largely
          to re-compute the full set of methods when a change to the
          available methods occurs.  Since all such recomputations are
          supposed to be automatic, direct calls to 'getAllMethods'
          should not be needed.

          If the generic 'f' has a group generic, methods for this
          group generic (and further generations of group generics, if
          any) are also merged.

          The merging rule is as follows: each generic is merged across
          packages, and the group generics are then merged, finally
          adding the directly defined methods of 'f'.

          The effect of the merging rule is that any method directly
          defined for 'f' on any included package overrides a method
          for the same signature defined for the group generic;
          similarly for the group generic and its group, if any, etc.

          For 'f' or for a specific group generic, methods override in
          the order of the packages being searched.  A method for a
          particular signature on a particular package overrides any
          methods for the same signature on packages later on in the
          list of packages being searched.

          The slot '"allMethods"' of the merged methods list is set to
          a copy of the methods slot; this is the slot where inherited
          methods are stored.)


     '_m_l_i_s_t_M_e_t_a_N_a_m_e': Utility to  return the mangled name for the
          object that stored the 'MethodsList' representation of the
          methods for a particular generic function, typically in the
          environment of a package.

          These objects are no longer used, and will likely not be
          generated starting in version 2.8.0 of R.


     '_r_e_m_o_v_e_M_e_t_h_o_d_s_O_b_j_e_c_t': remove the metadata object containing
          methods for 'f'.


_S_e_e _A_l_s_o:

     'Deprecated'

