[R] scoping rules; summary

[Robin Hankin]

Hi everyone

thanks for the replies.

The issue was NOT a font problem; I deliberately chose ll1 and l11 as
examples of easily confused variable names (evidently these were too
easily confused ;-).  The code snippet was written as intended, and
increment() contained a deliberate, highlighted, bug.  I was asking
for guidance on avoiding/finding this sort of coding error.

That was why I wrote "#bug here" in the original code, and why the
function was called increment()---because the function should have
incremented x by adding a variable whose value was 1 (of course, the
function as written, contrary to the desired functionality of
increment(), added a variable whose value was 2).  I guess I wasn't
explicit enough here.  Sorry.

The fundamental problem was, how to tell that a variable being used in
a function is not local?

One answer (thanks Patrick!): conflicts() shows masked objects on the
search path, which is not quite what I need: I want some way to list
all non-local variables that increment() uses in its body.



[The original variable names referred to genetic bandsharing data for
possums, eg

coates.female.pouchyoung.allbands.method5
and
huapai.young.male.sibling.relatedness.method3
and
huapai.old.female.nonsibling.relatedness.justdarkbands.method1

ad nauseum...hence the need for shorter example variable names!]




ll1 <- 2          #sic
increment <- function(x)
{
  l11 <- 1        #sic
  return(x+ll1)   #sic; deliberate bug here (sic)
}






-- 

Robin Hankin, Lecturer,
School of Geography and Environmental Science
Tamaki Campus
Private Bag 92019 Auckland
New Zealand

r.hankin at auckland.ac.nz
tel 0064-9-373-7599 x6820; FAX 0064-9-373-7042