[R] R multiline expression grief

[Wacek Kusnierczyk]

Paul Suckling wrote:

<...>
> ----------------------------------------------------
> # R-script...
>
> r_parse_error <- function ()
> {
>   
<...>

>   f <- a
>     + b
>     + c;
> }
>
>   
<...>
> f 1
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> As far as I am concerned f should have the value 3.
>   

as far as you intend, perhaps.  note, the above snippet says: 
   
    f <- a; +b; +c

not

    f <- a + b + c


> This is causing me endless problems since case f is our house style
> for breaking up expressions for readability. All our code will need to
> be rechecked as a result. Is this behaviour a bug? 

clearly not.  and it's hardly idiosyncratic to r.  you'd have the same
behaviour in, e.g., python, though there you can explicitly demand that
the lines form a single statement by ending the first two with a
backslash.  there have been similar discussions on mailing lists of a
number of programming/scripting languages.



> If not, is it
> possible to get R to generate a warning that several lines of an
> expression are potentially being ignored, 

they're not ignored!  you demand to compute +b and +c, and it's
certainly done.  (i don't think r is smart enough to optimize these away).

> perhaps by turning on a
> strict mode which requires the semi-colons?
>   

that's an idea, but the proposed solution would have to be optional to
avoid annoying those who don't like semiquotes in r code.


vQ