methodUtilities           package:methods           R Documentation

_U_t_i_l_i_t_y _F_u_n_c_t_i_o_n_s _f_o_r _M_e_t_h_o_d_s _a_n_d _S-_P_l_u_s _C_o_m_p_a_t_i_b_i_l_i_t_y

_D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n:

     These are utilities, currently in the 'methods' package, that
     either provide some functionality needed by the package (e.g.,
     element matching by name), or add compatibility with S-Plus, or
     both.

_U_s_a_g_e:

     functionBody(fun=sys.function(sys.parent()))

     allNames(x)

     getFunction(name, generic=TRUE, mustFind=TRUE, where)

     el(object, where)

     elNamed(x, name, mustFind=FALSE)

     formalArgs(def)

     Quote()

     showDefault(object, oldMethods = TRUE)

     initMethodDispatch()

     methodSignatureMatrix(object, sigSlots = c("target", "defined"))

_S_u_m_m_a_r_y _o_f _F_u_n_c_t_i_o_n_s:

     '_a_l_l_N_a_m_e_s': the character vector of names (unlike 'names()', never
          returns 'NULL').

     '_g_e_t_F_u_n_c_t_i_o_n': find the object as a function.

     '_e_l_N_a_m_e_d': get the element of the vector corresponding to name. 
          Unlike the '[', '[[', and '$' operators, this function 
          requires 'name' to match the element name exactly (no partial
          matching).

     '_f_o_r_m_a_l_A_r_g_s': Returns the names of the formal arguments of this
          function.

     '_e_x_i_s_t_s_F_u_n_c_t_i_o_n': Is there a function of this name?  If 'generic'
          is 'FALSE', generic functions are not counted. 

     '_f_i_n_d_F_u_n_c_t_i_o_n': return all the indices of the search list on which
          a function definition for 'name' exists.  

          If 'generic' is 'FALSE', ignore generic functions.

     '_s_h_o_w_D_e_f_a_u_l_t': Utility, used to enable 'show' methods to be called
          by the automatic printing (via 'print.default').

          Argument 'oldMethods' controls whether old-style print
          methods are used for this object.  It is 'TRUE' by default if
          called directly, but 'FALSE' when called from the 'methods'
          package for automatic printing (to avoid potential
          recursion).

     '_i_n_i_t_M_e_t_h_o_d_D_i_s_p_a_t_c_h': Turn on the internal method dispatch code. 
          Called on attaching the package.  Also, if dispatch has been
          turned off (by calling '.isMethodsDispatchOn(FALSE)'-a very
          gutsy thing to do), calling this function should turn
          dispatch back on again.

     '_m_e_t_h_o_d_S_i_g_n_a_t_u_r_e_M_a_t_r_i_x': Returns a matrix with the contents of the
          specified slots as rows.  The slots should be named character
          strings of the same length.  Basically used to turn the
          signatures of a '"MethodDefinition"' objectg into a matrix
          for printing.

