[R] packages masking other objects

[Uwe Ligges]

James Smith wrote:
> hello all, 
> 
> I am trying to use the function getCovariateFormula(nlme) in conjunction with the library lme4. When I load both packages I get the following message and the getCovariateFormula function no longer works:
> 
> library(nlme)
> library(lme4)
> 
> Attaching package 'lme4':
> 
> 
>         The following object(s) are masked from package:nlme :
> 
>          contr.SAS getCovariateFormula getResponseFormula groupedData lmeControl 

So you don't have the most recent version of lme4 which tells you instead:

 > library(nlme)
 > library(lme4)
Loading required package: Matrix
Loading required package: latticeExtra
Error in fun(...) : Package lme4 conflicts with package nlme.
  To attach lme4 you must restart R without package nlme.
Error: .onLoad failed in loadNamespace for 'lme4'
Error in library(lme4) : package/namespace load failed for 'lme4'

So the answer is: Don't do that.

Uwe Ligges


> I have tried removing the package after using it, with:
> detach(package:lme4)
> library(nlme)
> 
> but I still get an error message when I try to use getCovariateFormula. The line I use it in, and the error message is below:
> 
> rownames(table)<-c((getCovariateFormula(model1)),(getCovariateFormula(model2)),(getCovariateFormula(model3)),(getCovariateFormula(model4)),(getCovariateFormula(model5)),(getCovariateFormula(model6)),(getCovariateFormula(modelnull)))
> 
> Error in switch(mode(x), "NULL" = structure(NULL, class = "formula"),  : 
>         invalid formula
> 
> This line works fine when I run models with different structures that are not in the lme4 package.
> Does anyone have any suggestions about this ?
> Am I not removing the package completely ?
> 
> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
> Thanks
> James Smith
> 
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