getClass {methods} | R Documentation |
Get the definition of a class.
getClass(Class, .Force = FALSE) getClassDef(Class, where=-1)
Class |
the character-string name of the class. |
.Force |
if TRUE , return NULL if the class is
undefined; otherwise, an undefined class results in an error.
|
where |
{ where to search for the definition; by default, anywhere on the current search list.}
A call to getClass
returns the complete definition of the class supplied as a string,
including all slots, etc. in classes that this class extends. A call to
getClassDef
returns the definition of the class from that
database, unadorned. It's usually getClass
you want.
The statement that getClass
fails if the class is undefined is
not quite true at the moment. A few special vector types and informally
defined classes are allowed, and getClass
returns NULL
for
these. But don't count on it; eventually these holes in the class system
should be plugged.
In any case, if you really want to know whether a class is formally
defined, call isClass
.
The object defining the class. This is an object of class
"classRepEnvironment"
. However, do not deal with the
contents of the object directly unless you are very sure you know what
you're doing. Even then, it is nearly always better practice to use
functions such as setClass
and setIs
.
Messing up a class object will cause great confusion.
John Chambers
The web page http://www.omegahat.org/RSMethods/index.html is the primary documentation.
The functions in this package emulate the facility for classes and methods described in Programming with Data, (John M. Chambers, Springer, 1998). See this book for further details and examples.
getClass("numeric") ## a built in class