[R] Use and misuse of "update" function for non-models. Any views/recommendations??

[Douglas Bates]

On Nov 20, 2007 10:29 AM, Gabor Grothendieck <ggrothendieck at gmail.com> wrote:
> update already has formula and packageStatus methods so its
> being extended beyond models already even within core packages.

Also, update methods are extensively used for the "other kind" of
graphs in the lattice package.  Deepayan encourages users to think of
storing and updating lattice objects.

> On Nov 20, 2007 8:54 AM, Luke Tierney <luke at stat.uiowa.edu> wrote:
> > On Tue, 20 Nov 2007, Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
> >
> > > update() is generic, so the recommended approach would be to write a method
> > > for your objects.
> > >
> > > Creating your own function update() in a package would probably not break too
> > > much, as namespaces would protect most functions using the generic in stats.
> > > But it could be very confusing to users.
> >
> > Maybe.  update is generic with a netral set of argument names; on the
> > other hand, the _documentation_ of update is not generic -- it is
> > specific to updating models. So there is opportunity for confusion
> > from that direction.
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > luke
> >
> >
> > >
> > > On Tue, 20 Nov 2007, Søren Højsgaard wrote:
> > >
> > >> Dear all,
> > >>
> > >> I wonder if it is "bad style" (or something worse) to create an "update"
> > >> function which does not work on model objects of the lm, glm etc. type.
> > >> Specifically, I have some graph objects (graphs as mathematical objects,
> > >> not as displays) which I want to alter and for that purpose I thought of
> > >> writing an update function. Would doing so violate a "deeper philosophy" in
> > >> the R system or have other unfortunate consequences. If so, I'm happy to
> > >> hear other suggestions...
> > >>
> > >> Regards
> > >> Søren
> > >>
> > >> ______________________________________________
> > >> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
> > >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> > >> PLEASE do read the posting guide
> > >> http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> > >> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> >
> > --
> > Luke Tierney
> > Chair, Statistics and Actuarial Science
> > Ralph E. Wareham Professor of Mathematical Sciences
> > University of Iowa                  Phone:             319-335-3386
> > Department of Statistics and        Fax:               319-335-3017
> >    Actuarial Science
> > 241 Schaeffer Hall                  email:      luke at stat.uiowa.edu
> > Iowa City, IA 52242                 WWW:  http://www.stat.uiowa.edu
> > ______________________________________________
> > R-help at r-project.org mailing list
> > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> > PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
> >
> >
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
>