Dear Rees Morrison,


Re:


> Franklin, I am very impressed.  I ran your code and am amazed at the output.  I want to use it in my efforts to figure out which are the most widely used functions, so that I can concentrate on understanding those basics reasonably well. 
> 
> May I ask you two few questions?
> 
> What additional code would create a table output, with the function name in the left column, sorted alphabetically within a pattern, and the pattern of the function in the column to the right.  Users could then sort by those patterns, rename some to suit themselves, etc.
> 

That would be handy, indeed, as well as in which package each function resides.
However, my own motive was that if you know the existence and exact name of (seemingly) relevant functions, you can find the full syntax etc. throught R's built-in help system. I'm not sure whether this would be simple, because "grep" yields a variable number of hits, which must then be combined with a fixed string value.   I'll think about it.



> Second, I assume this function searches base only?  Could you add a parameter to the function so that it would search other, installed packages, such as Hmisc or stringr or plyr?  If so, the table (or your output) would need to identify the package.
> 

search() gives a list of attached packages, so if you load all packages of your interest you 'll get all relevant functions.



> Third, the patterns might usefully include “wd”, “str”, and “names”.

Certainly; for others it might be model, summary etc. Users can extend the pattern list or load them from a text file, e.g.
patterns = read.csv(file.choose())


> 
> I did not want to post this on R-Help because that site is much too intimidating for a newcomer.  In that regard, Hadley Wickham sent the .csv file where he compiled the base functions and stats functions.  I have done one of my own, but it is not as comprehensive, but goes beyond base.
> 


In my opinion it's better to CC the r-help, because someone in the vast R community might come up with a faster, or better, solution.




> Much obliged.
> 
> Rees
> 
> -- 
> Rees Morrison
> General Counsel Metrics, LLC (management consulting and data analytics)
> 4 Hawthorne Ave.
> Princeton, NJ 08540-3840 USA
> (973) 568-9110
> Hosts www.lawdepartmentmanagementblog.com
> 
Best wishes,


Franklin Bretschneider
--
Dept Biologie
Kruytgebouw W711
Padualaan 8
3584 CH Utrecht
The Netherlands






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