Re: [Rd] [External] Re: Repeated library() of one package with different include.only= entries
OK, I've moved your suggestions into the tracker for further discussion: https://bugs.r-project.org/show_bug.cgi?id=18703 https://bugs.r-project.org/show_bug.cgi?id=18704 https://bugs.r-project.org/show_bug.cgi?id=18705 I will tackle a patch for 18705 to start with as the lowest-hanging fruit. On Mon, Apr 15, 2024 at 6:46 AM Martin Maechler wrote: > I think we should try to advance and hopefully finalize this > thread before we forget about it .. > > > Michael Chirico n Thu, 11 Apr 2024 09:10:11 -0700 writes: > > >> I would assume that > > >> library(Matrix, include.only="isDiagonal") > > >> implies that only `isDiagonal` ends up on the search path > > > This could also be a reasonable behavior, but neither does that > happen > > today. > > Indeed; I think we should signal a warning at least in the case > it does not happen --- namely when "parts of Matrix" are already > in the search path. > > >> I think a far better approach to solve Michael's problem is simply > to use > > >> fac2sparse <- Matrix::fac2sparse > > > This does not fully simulate attachment, e.g. running package hooks & > > resolving Depends. > > (indeed; as library() is really about search() patch attchment) > > >> ?library could also mention using detach() followed by library() or > >> attachNamespace() with a new include.only specification. > > > This is the "quite hard to accomplish" I alluded to, admittedly I > hadn't > > forced myself to write it all out -- maybe it's not as bad as all > that. > > After some iterations, today I think we'd want to do... > > > modify_attach <- function(pkg, new_names) { > > if (!startsWith(pkg, "package:")) pkg <- paste0("package:", pkg) > > old <- tryCatch(ls(pkg, all.names=TRUE), error=\(c) character()) > > if (length(old)) detach(pkg) > > attachNamespace(.rmpkg(pkg), include.only=c(new_names, old)) > > } > > > Perhaps detach() could invisibly return the exported names to make > this a > > tiny bit easier (today it returns NULL): > > I agree that such changed detach() behavior would be "nice" here; > but I wouldn't like to change its default behavior, notably as > in 99.5% of its use, the names would not be used. > I'd agree to add a new option for detach() to return the names > (visibly in that case). > > > modify_attach <- function(pkg, new_names) { > > if (!startsWith(pkg, "package:")) pkg <- paste0("package:", pkg) > > old <- tryCatch(detach(pkg), error=\(c) character()) > > attachNamespace(.rmpkg(pkg), include.only=c(new_names, old)) > > } > > > Regardless, I think your suggestion to just point to > > detach()+attachNamespace() is reasonable enough, the rare users that > care > > about this are likely to be able to figure out the rest from there. > > So I think we agree here; mentioning such a modify_attach() > ... I'd use an example *without* tryCatch() as I think the user > should choose their own line of action in such cases > ... > on the help page would then be appropriate. > > Martin > > > On Thu, Apr 11, 2024 at 7:37 AM wrote: > > >> On Thu, 11 Apr 2024, Duncan Murdoch wrote: > >> > >> > On 11/04/2024 7:04 a.m., Martin Maechler wrote: > >> >>> Michael Chirico > >> >>> on Mon, 8 Apr 2024 10:19:29 -0700 writes: > >> >> > >> >> > Right now, attaching the same package with different > >> include.only= has no effect: > >> >> > >> >> > library(Matrix, include.only="fac2sparse") > >> >> > library(Matrix) > >> >> > ls("package:Matrix") > >> >> > # [1] "fac2sparse" > >> >> > >> >> > ?library does not cover this case -- what is covered is > the _loading_ > >> >> > behavior of repeated calls: > >> >> > >> >> >> [library and require] check and update the list of > currently attached > >> >> > packages and do not reload a namespace which is already > loaded > >> >> > >> >> > But here we're looking at the _attach_ behavior of > repeated calls. > >> >> > >> >> > I am particularly interested in allowing the exports of a > >> package to be > >> >> > built up gradually: > >> >> > >> >> > library(Matrix, include.only="fac2sparse") > >> >> > library(Matrix, include.only="isDiagonal") # > want:ls("package:Matrix") --> > >> >> > c("fac2sparse", "isDiagonal") > >> >> > ... > >> >> > >> >> > It seems quite hard to accomplish this at the moment. Is > the behavior to > >> >> > ignore new inclusions intentional? Could there be an > argument to get > >> >> > different behavior? > >> >> > >> >> As you did not get an answer yet, ..., some remarks by an > >> >> R-corer who has tweaked library() behavior in the past : > >> >> > >> >> - The `include.only = *` argument to library() has been a > >> >>
Re: [Rd] [External] Re: Repeated library() of one package with different include.only= entries
I think we should try to advance and hopefully finalize this thread before we forget about it .. > Michael Chirico n Thu, 11 Apr 2024 09:10:11 -0700 writes: >> I would assume that >> library(Matrix, include.only="isDiagonal") >> implies that only `isDiagonal` ends up on the search path > This could also be a reasonable behavior, but neither does that happen > today. Indeed; I think we should signal a warning at least in the case it does not happen --- namely when "parts of Matrix" are already in the search path. >> I think a far better approach to solve Michael's problem is simply to use >> fac2sparse <- Matrix::fac2sparse > This does not fully simulate attachment, e.g. running package hooks & > resolving Depends. (indeed; as library() is really about search() patch attchment) >> ?library could also mention using detach() followed by library() or >> attachNamespace() with a new include.only specification. > This is the "quite hard to accomplish" I alluded to, admittedly I hadn't > forced myself to write it all out -- maybe it's not as bad as all that. > After some iterations, today I think we'd want to do... > modify_attach <- function(pkg, new_names) { > if (!startsWith(pkg, "package:")) pkg <- paste0("package:", pkg) > old <- tryCatch(ls(pkg, all.names=TRUE), error=\(c) character()) > if (length(old)) detach(pkg) > attachNamespace(.rmpkg(pkg), include.only=c(new_names, old)) > } > Perhaps detach() could invisibly return the exported names to make this a > tiny bit easier (today it returns NULL): I agree that such changed detach() behavior would be "nice" here; but I wouldn't like to change its default behavior, notably as in 99.5% of its use, the names would not be used. I'd agree to add a new option for detach() to return the names (visibly in that case). > modify_attach <- function(pkg, new_names) { > if (!startsWith(pkg, "package:")) pkg <- paste0("package:", pkg) > old <- tryCatch(detach(pkg), error=\(c) character()) > attachNamespace(.rmpkg(pkg), include.only=c(new_names, old)) > } > Regardless, I think your suggestion to just point to > detach()+attachNamespace() is reasonable enough, the rare users that care > about this are likely to be able to figure out the rest from there. So I think we agree here; mentioning such a modify_attach() ... I'd use an example *without* tryCatch() as I think the user should choose their own line of action in such cases ... on the help page would then be appropriate. Martin > On Thu, Apr 11, 2024 at 7:37 AM wrote: >> On Thu, 11 Apr 2024, Duncan Murdoch wrote: >> >> > On 11/04/2024 7:04 a.m., Martin Maechler wrote: >> >>> Michael Chirico >> >>> on Mon, 8 Apr 2024 10:19:29 -0700 writes: >> >> >> >> > Right now, attaching the same package with different >> include.only= has no effect: >> >> >> >> > library(Matrix, include.only="fac2sparse") >> >> > library(Matrix) >> >> > ls("package:Matrix") >> >> > # [1] "fac2sparse" >> >> >> >> > ?library does not cover this case -- what is covered is the _loading_ >> >> > behavior of repeated calls: >> >> >> >> >> [library and require] check and update the list of currently attached >> >> > packages and do not reload a namespace which is already loaded >> >> >> >> > But here we're looking at the _attach_ behavior of repeated calls. >> >> >> >> > I am particularly interested in allowing the exports of a >> package to be >> >> > built up gradually: >> >> >> >> > library(Matrix, include.only="fac2sparse") >> >> > library(Matrix, include.only="isDiagonal") # want:ls("package:Matrix") --> >> >> > c("fac2sparse", "isDiagonal") >> >> > ... >> >> >> >> > It seems quite hard to accomplish this at the moment. Is the behavior to >> >> > ignore new inclusions intentional? Could there be an argument to get >> >> > different behavior? >> >> >> >> As you did not get an answer yet, ..., some remarks by an >> >> R-corer who has tweaked library() behavior in the past : >> >> >> >> - The `include.only = *` argument to library() has been a >> >>*relatively* recent addition {given the 25+ years of R history}: >> >> >> >>It was part of the extensive new features by Luke Tierney for >> >>R 3.6.0 [r76248 | luke | 2019-03-18 17:29:35 +0100], with NEWS entry >> >> >> >> • library() and require() now allow more control over handling >> >>search path conflicts when packages are attached. The policy is >> >>controlled by the new conflicts.policy option. >> >> >> >> - I haven't seen these (then) new features been used much, unfortunately, >> >>
Re: [Rd] [External] Re: Repeated library() of one package with different include.only= entries
> I would assume that > library(Matrix, include.only="isDiagonal") > implies that only `isDiagonal` ends up on the search path This could also be a reasonable behavior, but neither does that happen today. > I think a far better approach to solve Michael's problem is simply to use > fac2sparse <- Matrix::fac2sparse This does not fully simulate attachment, e.g. running package hooks & resolving Depends. > ?library could also mention using detach() followed by library() or > attachNamespace() with a new include.only specification. This is the "quite hard to accomplish" I alluded to, admittedly I hadn't forced myself to write it all out -- maybe it's not as bad as all that. After some iterations, today I think we'd want to do... modify_attach = function(pkg, new_names) { if (!startsWith(pkg, "package:")) pkg <- paste0("package:", pkg) old <- tryCatch(ls(pkg, all.names=TRUE), error=\(c) character()) if (length(old)) detach(pkg) attachNamespace(.rmpkg(pkg), include.only=c(new_names, old)) } Perhaps detach() could invisibly return the exported names to make this a tiny bit easier (today it returns NULL): modify_attach = function(pkg, new_names) { if (!startsWith(pkg, "package:")) pkg <- paste0("package:", pkg) old <- tryCatch(detach(pkg), error=\(c) character()) attachNamespace(.rmpkg(pkg), include.only=c(new_names, old)) } Regardless, I think your suggestion to just point to detach()+attachNamespace() is reasonable enough, the rare users that care about this are likely to be able to figure out the rest from there. On Thu, Apr 11, 2024 at 7:37 AM wrote: > On Thu, 11 Apr 2024, Duncan Murdoch wrote: > > > On 11/04/2024 7:04 a.m., Martin Maechler wrote: > >>> Michael Chirico > >>> on Mon, 8 Apr 2024 10:19:29 -0700 writes: > >> > >> > Right now, attaching the same package with different > include.only= > >> has no > >> > effect: > >> > >> > library(Matrix, include.only="fac2sparse") > >> > library(Matrix) > >> > ls("package:Matrix") > >> > # [1] "fac2sparse" > >> > >> > ?library does not cover this case -- what is covered is the > >> _loading_ > >> > behavior of repeated calls: > >> > >> >> [library and require] check and update the list of currently > >> attached > >> > packages and do not reload a namespace which is already loaded > >> > >> > But here we're looking at the _attach_ behavior of repeated > calls. > >> > >> > I am particularly interested in allowing the exports of a > package to > >> be > >> > built up gradually: > >> > >> > library(Matrix, include.only="fac2sparse") > >> > library(Matrix, include.only="isDiagonal") # want: > >> ls("package:Matrix") --> > >> > c("fac2sparse", "isDiagonal") > >> > ... > >> > >> > It seems quite hard to accomplish this at the moment. Is the > >> behavior to > >> > ignore new inclusions intentional? Could there be an argument to > get > >> > different behavior? > >> > >> As you did not get an answer yet, ..., some remarks by an > >> R-corer who has tweaked library() behavior in the past : > >> > >> - The `include.only = *` argument to library() has been a > >>*relatively* recent addition {given the 25+ years of R history}: > >> > >>It was part of the extensive new features by Luke Tierney for > >>R 3.6.0 [r76248 | luke | 2019-03-18 17:29:35 +0100], with NEWS entry > >> > >> • library() and require() now allow more control over handling > >>search path conflicts when packages are attached. The policy is > >>controlled by the new conflicts.policy option. > >> > >> - I haven't seen these (then) new features been used much, > unfortunately, > >>also not from R-core members, but I'd be happy to be told a > different > >> story. > >> > >> For the above reasons, it could well be that the current > >> implementation {of these features} has not been exercised a lot > >> yet, and limitations as you found them haven't been noticed yet, > >> or at least not noticed on the public R mailing lists, nor > >> otherwise by R-core (?). > >> > >> Your implicitly proposed new feature (or even *changed* > >> default behavior) seems to make sense to me -- but as alluded > >> to, above, I haven't been a conscious user of any > >> 'library(.., include.only = *)' till now. > > > > I don't think it makes sense. I would assume that > > > > library(Matrix, include.only="isDiagonal") > > > > implies that only `isDiagonal` ends up on the search path, i.e. > > "include.only" means "include only", not "include in addition to > whatever > > else has already been attached". > > > > I think a far better approach to solve Michael's problem is simply to use > > > > fac2sparse <- Matrix::fac2sparse > > isDiagonal <- Matrix::isDiagonal > > > > instead of messing around with the user's search list, which may have > been > > intentionally set to include only one of those. > > > > So I'd suggest changing the docs to say > > > >
Re: [Rd] [External] Re: Repeated library() of one package with different include.only= entries
On Thu, 11 Apr 2024, Duncan Murdoch wrote: On 11/04/2024 7:04 a.m., Martin Maechler wrote: Michael Chirico on Mon, 8 Apr 2024 10:19:29 -0700 writes: > Right now, attaching the same package with different include.only= has no > effect: > library(Matrix, include.only="fac2sparse") > library(Matrix) > ls("package:Matrix") > # [1] "fac2sparse" > ?library does not cover this case -- what is covered is the _loading_ > behavior of repeated calls: >> [library and require] check and update the list of currently attached > packages and do not reload a namespace which is already loaded > But here we're looking at the _attach_ behavior of repeated calls. > I am particularly interested in allowing the exports of a package to be > built up gradually: > library(Matrix, include.only="fac2sparse") > library(Matrix, include.only="isDiagonal") # want: ls("package:Matrix") --> > c("fac2sparse", "isDiagonal") > ... > It seems quite hard to accomplish this at the moment. Is the behavior to > ignore new inclusions intentional? Could there be an argument to get > different behavior? As you did not get an answer yet, ..., some remarks by an R-corer who has tweaked library() behavior in the past : - The `include.only = *` argument to library() has been a *relatively* recent addition {given the 25+ years of R history}: It was part of the extensive new features by Luke Tierney for R 3.6.0 [r76248 | luke | 2019-03-18 17:29:35 +0100], with NEWS entry • library() and require() now allow more control over handling search path conflicts when packages are attached. The policy is controlled by the new conflicts.policy option. - I haven't seen these (then) new features been used much, unfortunately, also not from R-core members, but I'd be happy to be told a different story. For the above reasons, it could well be that the current implementation {of these features} has not been exercised a lot yet, and limitations as you found them haven't been noticed yet, or at least not noticed on the public R mailing lists, nor otherwise by R-core (?). Your implicitly proposed new feature (or even *changed* default behavior) seems to make sense to me -- but as alluded to, above, I haven't been a conscious user of any 'library(.., include.only = *)' till now. I don't think it makes sense. I would assume that library(Matrix, include.only="isDiagonal") implies that only `isDiagonal` ends up on the search path, i.e. "include.only" means "include only", not "include in addition to whatever else has already been attached". I think a far better approach to solve Michael's problem is simply to use fac2sparse <- Matrix::fac2sparse isDiagonal <- Matrix::isDiagonal instead of messing around with the user's search list, which may have been intentionally set to include only one of those. So I'd suggest changing the docs to say "[library and require] check and update the list of currently attached packages and do not reload a namespace which is already loaded. If a package is already attached, no change will be made." ?library could also mention using detach() followed by library() or attachNamespace() with a new include.only specification. Best, luke Duncan Murdoch __ R-devel@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel -- Luke Tierney Ralph E. Wareham Professor of Mathematical Sciences University of Iowa Phone: 319-335-3386 Department of Statistics andFax: 319-335-3017 Actuarial Science 241 Schaeffer Hall email: luke-tier...@uiowa.edu Iowa City, IA 52242 WWW: http://www.stat.uiowa.edu/ __ R-devel@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel