import function without overwriting function with the same name
Martrin: It sounds like you have some homework to do. Moreover, you have not provided sufficient information (for me, anyway) to give a definitive answer: why/how are the functions different? How are they used? 1) "Import" is not the same as "source." "Import" is something one does with packages. Packaging up your functions sensibly and using Namespaces and import directives appropriately may be how you should proceed (I would say "probably" is, except you have not provided sufficient information). So you need to read up on R package creation and Namespaces. 2. Alternatively, perhaps you should make your different functions with the same name methods for the different classes to which they are applicable using either the S3 or S4 class system. So you may need to read up on these class systems and method invocation.Again, impossible to say without more info. 3. Or maybe you need to combine your separate functions into one with appropriate default and optional argument lists that alter the execution, e.g. via having arguments that are functions that alter the behavior. This is one of the glories of functional programming (functions are first class objects). 4. Or, probably the least desirable approach that may nevertheless be what you may want, is just to attach your collections of functions and access them by fully qualified names. See ?"::" for details on how to do that. ... or maybe something else that I haven't thought of or that would fit your needs better. But without having those needs specified in detail, ??? Cheers, Bert
On Sat, Aug 3, 2013 at 1:27 PM, Martin Batholdy <batholdy at googlemail.com> wrote:
Hi, I have to import multiple R-files. Each file consists of several functions with the same function name across the R-files. When I import all files one by one (with source()) I overwrite the function definition of the previous file until only the very last function definition lasts. However, I need them separately (although they have the name, they solve a certain task differently). Now I thought about creating a separate environment for each file / function-group, but I do not know upfront how many files I have to import and therefore how many different environments I need. But since the creation of an environment works like variable assignments (myEnv <- new.env()) I cannot just loop over the number of files and create x environments. What is the best way to solve this problem of importing functions without overwriting already existing functions with the same name? Thanks!
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Bert Gunter Genentech Nonclinical Biostatistics Internal Contact Info: Phone: 467-7374 Website: http://pharmadevelopment.roche.com/index/pdb/pdb-functional-groups/pdb-biostatistics/pdb-ncb-home.htm