I am running R-1.2.3 on Unix: >uname -a SunOS fluke 5.7 Generic_106541-12 sun4d sparc SUNW,SPARCserver-1000 Inside a function I want to call stepAIC: regrbest <- function(x,y,ind,wt=NULL,warni=FALSE,plo=VIEW) { ## Determine the best regression with one variable ( -> reg1), ## and the best regression according to AIC ( -> regopt) using stepwise regression ## on y ~ x[,ind] with weights wt form <- as.formula(paste(y,paste(ind, collapse = "+"), sep "~"),env=parent.frame()) if (!missing(wt)) { lm1 <- lm(form,data=eval.parent(x,2),weights=eval.parent(wt,2),na.action=na.omit) stw <- stepAIC(lm1,direction="forward",trace=3, k=2) ...... Problem: Although the linear model is built with data (evaluated at the top level ?!?), stepAIC gets stuck: Error in terms.formula(formula, data = data) : Object "x" not found> traceback()9: terms.formula(formula, data = data) 8: terms(formula, data = data) 7: lm(formula = vr3c1 ~ vr91 + vr92 + vr18c1 + vr18c2 + vr191 + vr192 + vr193 + vr211 + vr212 + vr221 + vr222 + vr223 + vr231 + vr232 + F26REG.J + F27SEX + F28ALTER + F31PERS + vr361 + vr362 + F37A + Urban + F6WISSEN + F7B1 + F7B2 + F7B3 + F7B4 + F7B5 + F29CH + F30SCHUL + F33HUND + F35GART, data = x, na.action na.omit) 6: eval(expr, envir, enclos) 5: eval(call, parent.frame()) 4: update.default(fit, paste("~ .", change)) 3: update(fit, paste("~ .", change)) 2: stepAIC(lm1, direction = "forward", trace = 2, k = 2) 1: regrbest(Una, "vr3c1", ind.9P6) The stumbling block is in 5: update.default does not eval(call..) in the correct top level frame. Question: Models within functions seem to be very delicate. What can be done to remedy the situation? Define update.default locally with the correct eval.parent(call,2) ??? Thanks for help. -christian Dr.sc.math.Christian W. Hoffmann Mathematics and Statistical Computing Landscape Modeling and Web Applications Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL Zuercherstrasse 111 CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland phone: ++41-1-739 22 77 fax: ++41-1-739 22 15 e-mail: christian.hoffmann_at_wsl.ch__prevent_spamming www: http://www.wsl.ch/staff/christian.hoffmann/ -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- r-help mailing list -- Read http://www.ci.tuwien.ac.at/~hornik/R/R-FAQ.html Send "info", "help", or "[un]subscribe" (in the "body", not the subject !) To: r-help-request at stat.math.ethz.ch _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._