xy.coords(MATRIX) bug in code or documentation (PR#8937)
[Martin Maechler]
Thanks a lot, Francois, for your careful reading and careful report!
Thanks for being receptive! :-)
FrPi> Another problem in the same area: the documentation lies FrPi> about how the function acts when given a data.frame. From FrPi> the code, a data.frame is processed as if it was a matrix. FrPi> From the documentation, while the data.frame is not mentioned FrPi> explicitely, it is implied in the paragraph explaining how FrPi> a list is processed (because a data.frame is a list). Some FrPi> reconciliation is needed here as well.
[ Though I do slightly mind the word "lies" since
I do value the 9th commandment..
Not telling the truth *accidentally* is not "lying" ]
Of course. You know, I merely forgot a smiley, there. You are right in that we should try a bit to spare the extreme susceptibility of some people! On the other hand, there should be limits to the feeling that we are always walking on eggs while writing to R-help or R-devel, some comfort and happiness is needed, after all. :-)
Yes; in this case, I propose to just amend the documentation explainining that data.frames are treated "as matrices".
Let me add a small comment about data.frames. It would be a bit awkward if a data.frame had two columns "y" and "x" (in that order) and if they were interpreted differently after matrix coercion. I guess the problem would not exist if data.frames were really interpreted as lists, the "x" and "y" columns could even appear anywhere (untested).
Fran?ois Pinard http://pinard.progiciels-bpi.ca