[R] Making a new generic {was "Save method"}

[Martin Maechler]

>>>>> "Ernesto" == Ernesto Jardim <ernesto at ipimar.pt>
>>>>>     on 07 Nov 2002 15:43:02 +0000 writes:

    Ernesto> I want to use save methods but I found that the
    Ernesto> save function is not a generic function ...

    Ernesto> If I define 

    Ernesto> save <- function(x, ...)
    Ernesto> UseMethod("save")

    Ernesto> I'll be overwriting the original save function ...

    Ernesto> Is there another way of doing this ? or am I
    Ernesto> understanding it wrong ?

``As always'' you find the answer to this question in the 
"R Extensions" / "Writing R Extensions (including C & Fortran)"
manual.  Look for the section  ``Adding new generics''.
Yes, please read that in the full context (you'll learn things
that you should rather learn now than later).

But for the sake of .., the crucial excerpt is

 RExt>    Sometimes package writers want to make generic a function in the base
 RExt> package, and request a change in R.  This may be justifiable, but
 RExt> making a function generic with the old definition as the default method
 RExt> does have a small performance cost.  It is never necessary, as a package
 RExt> can take over a function in the base package and make it generic by
 RExt> 
 RExt>      foo <- function(object, ...) UseMethod("foo")
 RExt>      foo.default <- get("foo", pos = NULL, mode = "function")


Martin Maechler <maechler at stat.math.ethz.ch>	http://stat.ethz.ch/~maechler/
Seminar fuer Statistik, ETH-Zentrum  LEO C16	Leonhardstr. 27
ETH (Federal Inst. Technology)	8092 Zurich	SWITZERLAND
phone: x-41-1-632-3408		fax: ...-1228			<><
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