[R-sig-ME] allFit fails after removing object with starting values for model parameters from workspace

[Gerrit Eichner]

Dear Ben and other lmer-experts,

if I extend my setting a little bit, a new/similar problem appears.
For some reasons I would like to change the control structures and
"hardwire" that as in:

lmerCtrl <- lmerControl(optCtrl = list(xtol_abs = 1e-9,
                                        ftol_abs = 1e-9))

theta <- c(1, 0.01, 0.2)
fm <- eval(bquote(
      lmer(Reaction ~ Days + (Days | Subject), data = sleepstudy,
           start = .(theta),
           control = .(lmerCtrl))  # THIS IS NEW.
  ))


Then allFit "goes on strike" again, now complaining about unused
arguments:

allFit(fm, verbose = FALSE)
Error in (function (optimizer = "nloptwrap", restart_edge = TRUE, 
boundary.tol = 1e-05,  :
   unused arguments (checkControl = list("ignore", "stop", "ignore", 
"stop", "stop", "message+drop.cols", "warning", "stop"), checkConv = 
list(list("warning", 0.002, NULL), list("message", 1e-04), 
list("warning", 1e-06)))


Any ideas how to circumvent this?

   Best regards  --  Gerrit

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Gerrit Eichner                   Mathematical Institute, Room 212
gerrit.eichner using math.uni-giessen.de   Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
Tel: +49-(0)641-99-32104          Arndtstr. 2, 35392 Giessen, Germany
http://www.uni-giessen.de/eichner
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Am 08.08.2019 um 15:41 schrieb Gerrit Eichner:
> Thx a lot, Ben, for the fast reply which clearly explains the
> cause of my problem. I've just found a solution which works for
> me (and which is not as simple as "don't delete theta" ;-) ):
> I "hardwire" theta's value into the function call:
> 
> theta <- c(1, 0.01, 0.2)
> fm <- eval(bquote(
>     lmer(Reaction ~ Days + (Days | Subject), data = sleepstudy,
>          start = .(theta))
>     ))
> 
> rm(theta)
> allFit(fm, verbose = FALSE)
> 
> 
> Works like a "charm", at least in my current workflow. :-)
> 
>   Thanks once more  --  Gerrit
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dr. Gerrit Eichner                   Mathematical Institute, Room 212
> gerrit.eichner using math.uni-giessen.de   Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
> Tel: +49-(0)641-99-32104          Arndtstr. 2, 35392 Giessen, Germany
> http://www.uni-giessen.de/eichner
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Am 08.08.2019 um 15:26 schrieb Ben Bolker:
>>
>>    This is not surprising, as allFit() uses update(), which tries to
>> re-evaluate the function ... at the very least allFit needs a
>> documentation update with that hint ... (I also notice at a glance that
>> the allFit docs seem to be incomplete anyway).
>>
>>    If you say more about your workflow we might be able to find a way to
>> help.  (If your workflow is this simple then the answer would be "well
>> then don't delete theta" ...)
>>
>>    cheers
>>      Ben Bolker
>>
>>
>> On 2019-08-08 9:06 a.m., Gerrit Eichner wrote:
>>> Dear lmer-experts,
>>>
>>> if I refit a fitted model with all available optimizers AFTER
>>> removing the object which contains the starting values for the
>>> parameters of the model as in
>>>
>>> theta <- c(1, 0.01, 0.2)
>>> fm <- lmer(Reaction ~ Days + (Days | Subject), data = sleepstudy,
>>>             start = theta)
>>> rm(theta)
>>> allFit(fm, verbose = FALSE)
>>>
>>> none of the optimizers succeeds:
>>>
>>> original model:
>>> Reaction ~ Days + (Days | Subject)
>>> optimizers (7): bobyqa, Nelder_Mead, nlminbwrap, nmkbw, optimx.L-BFGS-B,
>>> nloptwrap.NLOPT_LN_N...
>>> 7 optimizer(s) failed
>>> differences in negative log-likelihoods:
>>> max= -Inf ; std dev= NA
>>> Warning messages:
>>> 1: In min(nllvec) : no non-missing arguments to min; returning Inf
>>> 2: In max(nllvec - min(nllvec)) :
>>>    no non-missing arguments to max; returning -Inf
>>>
>>>
>>> If I don't remove theta from my workspace everything works fine.
>>> Is there a workaround for this - from my perspective - unwanted
>>> behaviour? (I have situations where allFit is used in a different
>>> environment from the one wherein the model was fit, e.g., after
>>> fitting the model the object which contains the fit is saved and
>>> later loaded in another R-session to be processed by allFit.)
>>> I could, of course, save theta everytime as well ... Any ideas?
>>>
>>>   Best regards  --  Gerrit
>>>
>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> Dr. Gerrit Eichner                   Mathematical Institute, Room 212
>>> gerrit.eichner using math.uni-giessen.de   Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
>>> Tel: +49-(0)641-99-32104          Arndtstr. 2, 35392 Giessen, Germany
>>> http://www.uni-giessen.de/eichner
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> R-sig-mixed-models using r-project.org mailing list
>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-mixed-models
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> R-sig-mixed-models using r-project.org mailing list
>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-mixed-models
>>
> 
> _______________________________________________
> R-sig-mixed-models using r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-mixed-models