Error with using if else inside function - r

Question

I have problem in using if else inside function, my code is like this:
ConvertWgtZooLS <- function(WgtZoo, LSWay, Pos){
If(LSWay == 0){
NewWgtZoo <- WgtZoo
}else{
BackPos <- BackMatrix(Pos,1)
NewWgtZoo<- Ifelse((Sign(WgtZoo) * Sign(BackPos) * LSWay)>=0, WgtZoo, 0)
}
return(NewWgtZoo)
}
However, when I run that in R, error message appears as:
"Error: unexpected '{' in:
"ConvertWgtZooLS <- function(WgtZoo, LSWay, Pos){
If(LSWay == 0){"
How can I resolve this? What is the syntax problem there? I checked many websites and seems the above if else syntax is correct.
Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

The error in your code is that you have used If instead of if, and R is case-sensitive. Thus, it is possible to have another function named If that does something different from if, and, as #danielkullmann points out, that function is exactly what R is looking for.
The error messages that R produces are not always the most helpful, but in this case, it does point you very close to the problem area. It shows you where it got "confused" but it's up to you to figure out why!
After you've fixed that first problem, you'll find another one (for the same reason) on line 6, where you have written Ifelse instead of ifelse.
One last point: R is pretty whitespace friendly, so it is good practice to leave some space in your code to help improve legibility, particularly with if and else statements. Here's why:
I find if (LSWay == 0) { easier to read than if(LSWay == 0){
When using an actual function, like sum(x), you do not usually add a space, making it easier to spot these conditional statements in large blocks of code.
The Google R Style Guide is an interesting read in this regard.