[Rd] stopifnot() suggestion

[Prof Brian Ripley]

stopifnot() is not intended for use by end-users, but for tests in 
packages.  If the writers of package tests are not aware of the perils of 
using == or != with numbers, then it is good that they get reminded.

And we do have isTRUE for use with it.


On Wed, 1 Mar 2006, Dan Davison wrote:

> On Wed, 1 Mar 2006, Roger D. Peng wrote:
>
>> Wouldn't it be better to do something like
>>
>> stopifnot(all(!is.na(x)), all(!is.na(y)), x, y)
>>
>> rather than have stopifnot() go checking for NAs?  I agree the message is
>> strange but if having non-NA values is really a condition, then why not just
>> put it in the call to stopifnot()?
>>
>> -roger
>>
>
> I was thinking of a fallible R user accidentally testing the truth of an
> expression with NAs, rather than of a situation where you remember that
> there may be missing values. For example
>
>> f <- function() { x <- NA ; if(x != 4) stop("x should be 4") }
>> g <- function() { x <- NA ; stopifnot(x == 4) }
>> f()
> Error in if (x != 4) stop("x should be 4") :
> 	missing value where TRUE/FALSE needed
>> g()
> Error in if (!(is.logical(r <- eval(ll[[i]])) && all(r)))
> stop(paste(deparse(mc[[i +  :
> 	missing value where TRUE/FALSE needed
>
> If you write the error-checking code represented by f(), you get a message
> which is very helpful in correcting your error. But someone who uses
> stopifnot() instead gets the output of g(). Even a user who knows the
> origin of the code in the error message doesn't know which of several
> stopifnot()s is responsible.
>
> Dan
>
>
>
>> Dan Davison wrote:
>>> If an expression is passed to stopifnot() which contains missing values,
>>> then the resulting error message is somewhat baffling until you are used to
>>> it, e.g.
>>>
>>>> x <- y <- rep(TRUE, 10)
>>>> y[7] <- NA
>>>> stopifnot(x, y)
>>> Error in if (!(is.logical(r <- eval(ll[[i]])) && all(r)))
>>> stop(paste(deparse(mc[[i +  :
>>>  	missing value where TRUE/FALSE needed
>>>
>>> A minor change to stopifnot() produces the following behaviour:
>>>
>>>> stopifnot(x, y)
>>> Error in stopifnot(x, y) : y contains missing values
>>>
>>> My attempt at a suitable modification follows, and below that the original
>>> function definition. Is a change along these lines appropriate?
>>>
>>> ## Altered version
>>>
>>> stopifnot <- function (...) {
>>>      n <- length(ll <- list(...))
>>>      if (n == 0)
>>>          return(invisible())
>>>      mc <- match.call()
>>>      for (i in 1:n) {
>>>          if(any(is.na(r <- eval(ll[[i]])))) stop(paste(deparse(mc[[i +
>>> 1]])), " contains missing values")
>>>          if (!(is.logical(r) && all(r)))
>>>              stop(paste(deparse(mc[[i + 1]]), "is not TRUE"), call. =
>>> FALSE)
>>>      }
>>> }
>>>
>>>
>>> ## from R-2.1.1/src/library/base/R/stop.R
>>>
>>> stopifnot <- function(...)
>>> {
>>>      n <- length(ll <- list(...))
>>>      if(n == 0)
>>>          return(invisible())
>>>      mc <- match.call()
>>>      for(i in 1:n)
>>>          if(!(is.logical(r <- eval(ll[[i]])) && all(r)))
>>>              stop(paste(deparse(mc[[i+1]]), "is not TRUE"), call. = FALSE)
>>> }
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Dan
>>>
>>>
>>>> version
>>>           _
>>> platform i386-pc-linux-gnu
>>> arch     i386
>>> os       linux-gnu
>>> system   i386, linux-gnu
>>> status
>>> major    2
>>> minor    2.0
>>> year     2005
>>> month    10
>>> day      06
>>> svn rev  35749
>>> language R
>>>
>>> ----------
>>> Dan Davison
>>> Committee on Evolutionary Biology
>>> University of Chicago, U.S.A.
>>>
>>> ______________________________________________
>>> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Roger D. Peng  |  http://www.biostat.jhsph.edu/~rpeng/
>>
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>
>

-- 
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272866 (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595