[R] how to define functions in such a situation

Liaw, Andy andy_liaw at merck.com
Tue Jun 7 15:09:34 CEST 2005


It't not clear to me exactly what you want and how you envision it could be
done, but it probably helps to realize that functions in R (and S in
general) are first class objects, so you can manipulate them pretty much
like any other objects.  You can "compute" them "on-the-fly", e.g., by
having a fuction returning a function (or a list of functions).  I find
reading the Language Definition manual very helpful for things like this.

As an example, the ecdf() function returns a function that can compute the
estimated ecdf for any input.  There may be simpler examples elsewhere.

Andy

> From: Hu Chen
> 
> hi R folks,
> I need read a file from hardisk or www web. Then I need to define some
> new functions according to the contents of the read file.
> For  example, i need write a package name "mypackage" like this:
> >library(mypackage)
> >read(some_file_on_web) #to see its content, suppose it contains:
> eat.drink.sleep
> then 3 new functions need to be created and usable.
> the problem is, how could I create functions after executing
> ">library(mypackage)" and make these new functions visible and usable
> immediately?
> 
> Any information are appreciated. forgive me if this question is very
> stupid. but I really need help.
> Thank you all.
> 
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