[R] write() gotcha

[Robin Hankin]

On 18 Dec 2006, at 08:50, Prof Brian Ripley wrote:

> On Mon, 18 Dec 2006, Robin Hankin wrote:
>
>> Hi
>>
>> I used write() the other day to save some results.
>
> Why not save()?  It is the only way to preserve the results exactly.
>
>> It seems that write() does not record the full precision of
>> the objects being written:
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>> What's going on here?
>
> See ?cat, for which write is a wrapper.
>
>



Professor Ripley

Thanks for this.  I'll use save() instead.

Also, could we clarify this issue in the write() manpage?  Although its
behaviour is  clear from the code, I'm sure other R users would
appreciate a hint or a warning that precision might be lost.  It cost
me a few hours of worry last night!



--
Robin Hankin
Uncertainty Analyst
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK
  tel  023-8059-7743