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[R-pkg-devel] How to pass a connection into a C function (R 3.2)

7 messages · Duncan Murdoch, Tom Quarendon

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I would like to implement a package that contains a C function that writes to a connection.
So the R_ext/Connections.h defines what a connection IS, but not how to get one.

What seems to work is to manually declare
Rconnection getConnection(int n);
In my C file, and while this works, and I can then use the connection object, it fails package validation with:

?Found non-API call to R: ?getConnection?
Compiled code should not call non-API entry points in R.?

So how am I supposed to do this? Is there a way? Or do I just live with the check warning (ideally not)?

Thanks.
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On 21/01/2016 11:39 AM, Tom Quarendon wrote:
The usual way to do that would be to create the connection in R code, 
and pass it in with your call.

If you don't know what connection you need at the time you call your C 
code, you can evaluate an R expression from C to do the same, but this 
is relatively tricky, so I'd advise the other method.

Duncan Murdoch
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But that's what I want to do, create the connection in R code and pass it on to the C function.
My question is, how do I do that?
You appear to need the C getConnection entry point, but it's not part of the API. 
So I'm wondering how I'm supposed to do what you describe.

Sorry if I was unclear.

Sent from my iPhone
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But that's what I want to do, create the connection in R code and pass it on to the C function.
My question is, how do I do that?
You appear to need the C getConnection entry point, but it's not part of the API. 
So I'm wondering how I'm supposed to do what you describe.

Sorry if I was unclear.

Sent from my iPhone
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On 21/01/2016 12:50 PM, Tom Quarendon wrote:
Sorry, my advice was wrong.  I remembered that we exposed code to create 
new connections, and assumed it had some code to work with them, but it 
doesn't.

Duncan Murdoch
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So upshot is that I can only do why I want by using the function that's not part of the api, or just not using connections at all and just using normal C file io, opened from C, and simply pass the file name in instead, rather than a proper connection object?
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On 21/01/2016 1:07 PM, Tom Quarendon wrote:
You could also call R from C to do the I/O for you.

Duncan Murdoch