[R] Where to declare S4 classes?

[Prof Brian Ripley]

On Sun, 5 Mar 2006, Patrick Giraudoux wrote:

> OK. Looks like I have got it... going through the source code of sp,
> classes are declared as usual functions in *.R files. With the current
> example, suppose I must write two files of names "class-Prior.R" and
> "class-SamplePrior.R" including
> setClass("Prior",representation(Distrib="character",Params="list")) and
> setClass("SamplePrior",representation("Prior",Sample="list"))  respectively.
>
> Suppose the alphabetical order of each file name may be important
> somehow, since "SamplePrior" cannot be defined without a prior
> definition of "Prior"
>
> Can anybody confirm?

Indeed.  I suggest that you just use one file for all related classes and 
methods.  How R code in a package is divided amongst files is just a 
matter of convenience for you, the maintainer.  They will all be 
concatenated before use.  (The order is alphabetic in the C locale unless 
you override it via the Collate: field in the DESCRIPTION file.)


>
> If so, I can go on with validity checking functions...
>
> Patrick
>
> Patrick Giraudoux a écrit :
>> Dear listers,
>>
>> I am making a trial to move from S3 to S4... I have created some
>> classes of interest and they work acceptably well for the purpose. I
>> am now wondering how to make them operate in a package. In clear when
>> a package is loaded (eg library(mypackage)) where should I put the
>> class descriptions:
>>
>> setClass("Prior",representation(Distrib="character",Params="list"))
>> setClass("SamplePrior",representation("Prior",Sample="list"))
>>
>> so that they are created and then usable for functions after a simple
>> call to library(mypackage).
>>
>> It is probably something trivial, but I could not find out something
>> clear on this (eg example) in the R-help-list, writing R-extensions,
>> nor in  S programming... and trying to get this info through reading
>> other library codes has been unsuccessful.
>>
>> Patrick
>>
>>
>>
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> PLEASE do read the posting guide! http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
>

-- 
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