[Rd] Defining a method in two packages

[Terry Therneau]

The coxme package has a ranef() method, as does lme4.  I'm having
trouble getting them to play together, as shown below.  (The particular
model in the example isn't defensible, but uses a standard data set.)

The problem is that most of the time only one of lme4 or coxme will be
loaded, so each needs to define the basic ranef function as well as a
method for it.  But when loaded together the last one wins.  The coxme
object is an S3 class BTW. (Suggestions to convert it to S4 will not be
well recieved -- but that's a different and unnecessary thread.)

Odds are that this has a simple solution which I have missed.
     Terry Therneau


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> library(coxme)
Loading required package: survival
Loading required package: splines
Loading required package: bdsmatrix

> fit <- coxme(Surv(time, status) ~ age + (1|ph.ecog), lung)
> ranef(fit)
$ph.ecog
Intercept 
0.1592346 

> library(lme4)
Loading required package: Matrix
Loading required package: lattice

Attaching package: 'lme4'


        The following object(s) are masked from package:coxme :

         fixef,
         ranef 

> ranef(fit)
Error in function (classes, fdef, mtable)  : 
  unable to find an inherited method for function "ranef", for signature
"coxme"
> q()