[R] problem with package development and older defs earlier in search order

[Rolf Turner]

Suggestions:

(1) Work in a different directory (so that you will have a different --- 
initially
empty) .RData file.

(2) Or:  Clean up the .Rdata file in the directory that you are 
currently using;
rm(list=ls()) does this for you.  Every so slightly dangerous! :-)

(3) Possibly:  Before doing (2), save stuff that you actually *want*, 
e.g. via

     save(mung,gorp,clyde,irving,melvin,file="savedStuff.rda")

Then you can recover mung, gorp, etc. via

     load("savedStuff.rda")

     cheers,

         Rolf Turner

On 08/11/12 13:11, Martin J Reed wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have a problem with a package I have developed in that functions do not get loaded due to older versions of the functions being in the .GlobalEnv’ fetched from .Rdata files stored from previous saved workspaces. I need to be able to fix this somehow when I load the package. I do not want to mess up the search order to fix the problem.
>
> How I got myself into this mess is that I started developing using a bunch of R files and a dynamic library and then loaded these from an R function rather than a package. This is great when developing as it allows quick reloading. After doing this for about a year now I have (unknowingly) populated all my favourite working directories with .Rdata files that contain various versions of my functions. And I shared this collection of code, with its flakey loading mechanism, with PhD students and colleagues who have used it and nicely populated their working directories with it as well….
>
> So now I have learnt how to turn it into a package as it is in a more stable state. But when I load it of course the .GlobalEnv with the definition from old saved .Rdata files is first in the search order. I say "of course" but tt has taken me a while to find this out. At first I thought I was going mad as the old functions seemed to magically turn up even though I had updated the package and checked that the new versions of the functions were the only ones in the system (or so I thought)…
>
> My question is: how can I force a package to overwrite the "old" definitions in the .GlobalEnv. If it cannot be done automatically it could be a user triggered function. While developing I still want newer versions of functions to take precedence in the .GlobalEnv over the package versions. i.e. I do not want the package to be earlier in the search order than .GlobalEnv (if this is even possible), I just want to be able to delete the old definitions. I do not want to delete the .Rdata files as there is useful state in them...
>
> Any help getting me out of this mess would be appreciated!