[Rd] package 'stats' needs import directive for 1.9.0?

[Heywood, Giles]

I maintain the Irregular Time Series (its) package on CRAN.  I am currently
testing a release.  Under 1.8.1 I am able to define a S4 generic 'start' as
follows:

if(!isGeneric("start")) {setGeneric("start", useAsDefault=start)}

Under 1.9.0, Rcmd check generates an error, as 'start' is not recognised.
If I use the NAMESPACE directive IMPORT, all is well:

import(stats)

(I recall some past postings about refactoring 'base', and I assume that
'stats' is a part of this)

However, the additional directive leads to problems under 1.8.1, as one
might expect, since 'stats' does not exist under 1.8.1.  How to define my S4
generic and make it transparent so that the base function start() is
unaffected, in such a way that it will function under 1.8.1 and 1.9.0?

Thanks

- Giles


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