Evaluating (...) in a function argument in R - r

I have the following functions:
ignore <- function(...) NULL
tee <- function(f, on_input = ignore, on_output = ignore) {
function(...) {
on_input(...)
output <- f(...)
on_output(output)
output
}
}
My question would be on how is the (...) expression evaluated in the on_input in the tee function? I understand that in the case of ignore function, it will simply take any arguments and still return a NULL value. However, I am unsure if on_input and on_output are functions and also on what will happen to the on_input and output function in this case?

you took that code from Wickham Book Advanced R.
In this book you can find an example
g <- function(x) cos(x) - x
zero <- uniroot(g, c(-5, 5))
show_x <- function(x, ...) cat(sprintf("%+.08f", x), "\n")
# The location where the function is evaluated:
zero <- uniroot(tee(g, on_input = show_x), c(-5, 5))
You can imagine that on_input and on_output are function that work with the input and the output of the function.
In this case for example you are printing the input of each iteration on the g function.
zero <- uniroot(tee(g, on_output = show_x), c(-5, 5))
On this case on the contrary you are printing the output of the function on each iteration.
To summarise, yes on_input and on_output are functions and this function simply work with the input and the output of the function f.
EDIT
Just an easier example to understand what is going on
pow2<-function(x){x^2}
input<-function(x){
cat(paste("input is ",x,"\n",sep=""))
}
output<-function(x){
cat(paste("output is ",x,"\n",sep=""))
}
tee(pow2,on_input=input,on_output=output)(2)
input is 2
output is 4
[1] 4
the main function here is obviously pow2
tee take pow2 and return a function that run on_input, pow2 and on_output.
Notice also that you have to call and pass an argument to the result of tee, in fact tee is returning a function and not a value
(...) match all additional arguments passed

Related

transfer character in function to the function in r

I have such a problem, I want to define the grad function as an input of the function. Please see the example below.
f<-function(grad="2*m-4"){
y=grad
return(y)
}
f(3)=2
I'm usually not a fan of using eval(parse(text=..)), but it does do this with a character string:
f <- function(m, grad="2*m-4"){
eval(parse(text = grad))
}
f(3)
# [1] 2
The two take-aways:
if your grad formula requires variables, you should make them arguments of your function; and
parse(text=..) parse the string as if the user typed it in to R's interpreter, and it returns an expression:
parse(text="2*m - 4")
# expression(2*m - 4)
This expression can then be evaluated with eval.

How to pass a parameter name as an argument to a function

I understand this title may not make any sense. I searched everywhere but couldn't find an answer. What I'm trying to do is make a function that will take a parameter name for another function, a vector, and then keep calling that function with the parameter value equal to every item in the vector.
For simplicity's sake I'm not dealing with a vector below but just a single integer.
tuner <- function(param, a, ...) {
myfunction(param = a, ...)
}
and the code would effectively just run
myfunction(param = a)
I can't get this to work! The code actually runs but the resulting call completely ignores the parameter I put in and just runs
myfunction()
instead. Any solutions?
You can't really treat parameter names as variables that need to be evaluated in R. Onw work around would be to build a list of parameters and then pass that to do.call. For eample
myfunction <- function(x=1, y=5) {
x+y
}
tuner <- function(param, a, ...) {
do.call("myfunction", c(setNames(list(a), param), list(...)))
}
tuner("x", 100)
# [1] 105
tuner("y", 100)
# [1] 101
tuner("y", 100, 2)
# [1] 102
Another way using rlang would be
library(rlang)
tuner <- function(param, a, ...) {
args <- exprs(!!param := a, ...)
eval_tidy(expr(myfunction(!!!args)))
}
which would give the same results.

How to program over match.call?

I'm trying to program over a function inside a package, but I'm stuck with the function internally using match.call() to parse one of its arguments.
A super-simplified example of the function with the usual utilization could look like this:
f1 = function(x, y=0, z=0, a=0, b=0){ #lots of arguments not needed for the example
mc = match.call()
return(mc$x)
#Returning for testing purpose.
#Normally, the function later uses calls as character:
r1 = as.character(mc$x[1])
r2 = as.character(mc$x[2])
#...
}
x1 = f1(x = foo(bar))
x1
# foo(bar)
class(x1)
# [1] "call"
In my case, I need to get the value of x from a variable (value in the following code). Expected utilisation of f1 is as following :
value = "foo(bar)" #this line could also be anything else
f1(x=some_magic_function(value))
# Expected result = foo(bar)
# Unwanted result = some_magic_function(value)
Unfortunately, match.call() always return the very input value. I'm quite out of my league here so I only tried few functions.
Is there any way I could trick match.call() so it could accept external variable ?
Failed attempts so far:
#I tried to create the exact same call using rlang::sym()
#This may not be the best way...
value = call("foo", rlang::sym("bar"))
value
# foo(bar)
class(value)
# [1] "call"
x1==value
# [1] TRUE
f1(x=value)
# value
f1(x=eval(value))
# eval(value)
f1(x=substitute(value))
# substitute(value)
There's nothing you can include as a parameter to f1 to make this work. Instead, you would dynamically need to build your call to f1. With base R you might do this with do.call.
do.call("f1", list(parse(text=value)[[1]]))
or with rlang
eval_tidy(quo(f1(!!parse_expr(value))))

Anonymous passing of variables from current environment to subfunction calls

The function testfun1, defined below, does what I want it to do. (For the reasoning of all this, see the background info below the code example.) The question I wanted to ask you is why what I tried in testfun2 doesn't work. To me, both appear to be doing the exact same thing. As shown by the print in testfun2, the evaluation of the helper function inside testfun2 takes place in the correct environment, but the variables from the main function environment get magically passed to the helper function in testfun1, but not in testfun2. Does anyone of you know why?
helpfun <- function(){
x <- x^2 + y^2
}
testfun1 <- function(x,y){
xy <- x*y
environment(helpfun) <- sys.frame(sys.nframe())
x <- eval(as.call(c(as.symbol("helpfun"))))
return(list(x=x,xy=xy))
}
testfun1(x = 2,y = 1:3)
## works as intended
eval.here <- function(fun){
environment(fun) <- parent.frame()
print(environment(fun))
eval(as.call(c(as.symbol(fun))))
}
testfun2 <- function(x,y){
print(sys.frame(sys.nframe()))
xy <- x*y
x <- eval.here("helpfun")
return(list(x=x,xy=xy))
}
testfun2(x = 2,y = 1:3)
## helpfun can't find variable 'x' despite having the same environment as in testfun1...
Background info: I have a large R code in which I want to call helperfunctions inside my main function. They alter variables of the main function environment. The purpose of all this is mainly to unclutter my code. (Main function code is currently over 2000 lines, with many calls to various helperfunctions which themselves are 40-150 lines long...)
Note that the number of arguments to my helper functions is very high, so that the traditional explicit passing of function arguments ( "helpfun(arg1 = arg1, arg2 = arg2, ... , arg50 = arg50)") would be cumbersome and doesnt yield the uncluttering of the code that I am aiming for. Therefore, I need to pass the variables from the parent frame to the helper functions anonymously.
Use this instead:
eval.here <- function(fun){
fun <- get(fun)
environment(fun) <- parent.frame()
print(environment(fun))
fun()
}
Result:
> testfun2(x = 2,y = 1:3)
<environment: 0x0000000013da47a8>
<environment: 0x0000000013da47a8>
$x
[1] 5 8 13
$xy
[1] 2 4 6

extracting a function call name from a function call

Does anyone know how to write a function F which takes a function call (say, mean(x = 1:10)) as an argument, and returns just the name of the function being invoked (mean)?
My best attempts so far are summarised below
(function(x1){
return(deparse(substitute(x1)))
})(mean(x = 1:10))
### 'mean(x = 1:10)'
Changing x1 (the function call) to an expression before de-parsing doesn't seem to help much: that returns
(function(x1){
return(deparse(as.expression(substitute(x1))))
})(mean(x = 1:10))
# "expression(mean(x = 1:10))"
If at all possible, I'd like to be able to use anonymous functions as an argument too, so F should return (function(x) print (x)) for (function(x) print (x))(1). If you need any clarification feel free to comment. Thanks.
edit1: just to note, I'd like to avoid checking for the first parenthesis and excising the the code before it (for "mean(x = 1:10)" that would return "mean"), as "bad(Fun_nAme" is actually a legal function name in R.
Question Answered: Josh O'Brien's answer was perfect: the function F that satisfies the above conditions is
F <- function(x) deparse(substitute(x)[[1]])
It works nicely for binary operators, standard functions and anonymous functions.
Here's a simple function that does what you want:
F <- function(x) deparse(substitute(x)[[1]])
F(mean(x=1:10))
# [1] "mean"
F((function(x) print (x))(1))
# [1] "(function(x) print(x))"
F(9+7)
# [1] "+"
I don't know what you're trying to do or if it's a good idea or if this is what you want but here's a whack at it with regex:
FUN <- function(x1){
z <- deparse(substitute(x1))
list(fun=strsplit(z, "\\(")[[c(1, 1)]],
eval=x1)
}
FUN(mean(x = 1:10))

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