[Rd] quieting the "apparent S3 methods" warning

[Skye Bender-deMoll]

Dear R-devel,
  Recent versions of R CMD check have been flagging apparent S3 methods 
that are not registered in the NAMESPACE as such.  In most situations 
this is very helpful.  However, I have few cases in existing packages 
where we have unfortunately named functions using a "." in them that 
makes them appear as S3 methods when they are not.

As there is no existing class corresponding to the last suffix of the 
function, I could quiet the warning by registering the "fake" S3 
function, but this seems contrary to the intent and not very future-proof.

Is there a way to register methods as "non-S3 methods" so as to block 
any potential S3 dispatch? Or is there any other way to quiet the 
warning?  In the long term, I imagine we can deprecate the function and 
replace it with a better name?

best,
  -skye