[R] packages & data-sets & name spaces

[Meinhard Ploner]

> From: Prof Brian Ripley <ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk>
> Date: June 17, 2004 12:15:01 PM CEST
> To: Meinhard Ploner <meinhardploner at gmx.net>
> Cc: r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch
> Subject: Re: [R] packages & data-sets
>
> On Thu, 17 Jun 2004, Meinhard Ploner wrote:
>
>> It's possible to create a package with functions and data,
>> from which the use
>>
>> library(pkg-name)
>>
>> "attaches" not only the functions, but also the data?
>> I want avoid to use
>>
>> data(dataset, package="name")
>>
>> because this makes a global copy of the data-set ...
>
> What do you mean by `global'?  You cannot have access to R data without
> having it in memory and having it visible.  You don't need to have it 
> in
> the user workspace (.GlobalEnv), though.  Suggestions:
>
> 1) See how MASS does it.  Data objects are loaded into the MASS 
> namespace
> on first use.

After some playing-around I found that I forgot to insert in NAMESPACE
export(package.load.data) which I defined as you in MASS/R 
(MASS.load.data).
Now all works fine and I'm very happy about this solution!

Thanks a lot!
Meinhard Ploner

> 2) See ?attach and attach an R save file containing your datasets --
> wasteful unless you use them all at once.
>
> It is planned that data() will be superseded by a better mechanism in R
> 2.0.0 (but that plan has slipped a bit already, which is why MASS does 
> it
> differently).
>
> -- 
> 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
>