[R] data encapsulation with classes

[Peter Williams]

Hi All,

I'm new to R from a C and Octave/Matlab background.  I am trying to  
construct some classes in R to which I want to attach pieces of data.
First, is attr(obj, 'member name') <- data the accepted way of doing  
this?

Second, having attached member data with attr is there anything wrong  
with accessing it by the asperand (@), i.e.

 > t = ""
 > attr(t, 'test') <- 4
 > t at test
[1] 4

I can't find any documentation on using the asperand to access  
attributes like this.  I saw it in a piece of code as I was googling  
around trying to find some information on attaching data to a class  
in R.  Is this deprecated?  Is this poor form?  If anyone has some  
suggestions please let me know.

Thank you