[Rd] vapply definition question

Martin Morgan mtmorgan at fredhutch.org
Wed Dec 17 06:54:15 CET 2014


On 12/16/2014 08:20 PM, Mick Jordan wrote:
> vapply <- function(X, FUN, FUN.VALUE, ...,  USE.NAMES = TRUE)
> {
>      FUN <- match.fun(FUN)
>      if(!is.vector(X) || is.object(X)) X <- as.list(X)
>      .Internal(vapply(X, FUN, FUN.VALUE, USE.NAMES))
> }
>
> This is an implementor question. Basically, what happened to the '...' args in
> the call to the .Internal? cf lapply:, where the ... is passed.
>
> lapply <- function (X, FUN, ...)
> {
>      FUN <- match.fun(FUN)
>      ## internal code handles all vector types, including expressions
>      ## However, it would be OK to have attributes which is.vector
>      ## disallows.
>      if(!is.vector(X) || is.object(X)) X <- as.list(X)
>      ##TODO
>      ## Note ... is not passed down.  Rather the internal code
>      ## evaluates FUN(X[i], ...) in the frame of this function
>      .Internal(lapply(X, FUN, ...))
> }
>
> Now both of these functions work when extra arguments are passed, so evidently
> the implementation can function whether the .Internal "call" contains the ... or
> not. I found other cases, notably in S3 generic methods where the ... is not
> passed down.

Hi Mick --

You can see that the source code doesn't contain '...' in the final line

~/src/R-devel/src/library/base/R$ svn annotate lapply.R | grep Internal\(l
  38631     ripley     .Internal(lapply(X, FUN))

and that it's been there for a long time (I'd guess 'forever')

~/src/R-devel/src/library/base/R$ svn log -r38631
------------------------------------------------------------------------
r38631 | ripley | 2006-07-17 14:30:55 -0700 (Mon, 17 Jul 2006) | 2 lines

another attempt at a faster lapply

------------------------------------------------------------------------

so I guess you're looking at a modified version of the function... The 
implementation detail is in the comment -- FUN(X[i], ...) is evaluated in the 
frame of lapply.

Martin Morgan

>
> So, essentially, my question is whether the vapply code "should" be changed or
> whether a .Internal implementation should always assume an implicit ...
> regardless of the code, if the semantics requires it.
>
> Thanks
> Mick
>
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