R help - Apr 2004 - tapply() and barplot() help files for 1.8.1

Hi,

I've just upgraded to 1.9.0 and one of my Sweave files that produces a
number of barplots in a standard manner now produces them in a
different way.  I have made a couple of small changes to my code to
get the back the output I was getting before upgrading and now (mostly
out of curiosity) would like to understand what has changed.

I *think* I've tracked it down to tapply() and/or barplot() and have
not seen anything in the NEWS file regarding changes to these
functions (as far a I can see).  As part of doing my homework, I would
like to read the version 1.8.1 help files for these two functions, but
now that I've upgraded I'm not sure where I can find them.  Is there a
simple way for me to get copies of these two help files to compare
with the versions in 1.9.0?  As far as I can see, barplot() and
tapply() in 1.9.0 work as described in their 1.9.0 help files (which
does not surprise me).

I've been lurking on this list long enough to know that if there has
been a change it is documented, so it must be that I just haven't
found it yet.  If there hasn't been a change, then I am totally
perplexed, because I have been running this Sweave file several times
a day for the last few weeks and have not changed that part of it
(I've been changing the LaTeX parts).

In the part of the code that has changed I use tapply() to summarise
some data and then plot it with barplot().  I now have to use matrix()
on the output of tapply() before using barplot() because tapply()
produces a list and barplot() wants a vector or matrix.

In the code below, z is a dataframe, yllperdth is a numeric and fld
is the name of a factor, both in the dataframe.

Old version (as used with R 1.8.1):

  ## Calculate the % of YLLs for each group in the cause classification.
  x <- tapply(z$yllperdth, z[, fld], sum)
  totalYLLs <- sum(x)
  x <- x / totalYLLs * 100
  x <- sort(x)
  
  ## Plot the chart. horiz = TRUE makes it a bar instead of 
  ## column chart.  las = 1 prints the labels horizontally.
  xplot <- barplot(x, 
                   horiz = TRUE, 
                   xlab = "Percent of YLLs",
                   las = 1)


New Version (as used with R 1.9.0):

  ## Calculate the % of YLLs for each group in the cause classification.
  x <- tapply(z$yllperdth, z[, fld], sum)
  totalYLLs <- sum(x)
  x <- x / totalYLLs * 100
  x <- sort(x)

  causeNames <- names(x)  ## NEW BIT
  x <- matrix(x)          ## NEW BIT
  

  ## Plot the chart. horiz = TRUE makes it a bar instead of 
  ## column chart.  las = 1 prints the labels horizontally.
  xplot <- barplot(x, 
                   beside = TRUE,           ## NEW BIT
                   names.arg = causeNames,  ## NEW BIT
                   horiz = TRUE, 
                   xlab = "Percent of YLLs",
                   las = 1)



> version
         _                
platform i686-pc-linux-gnu
arch     i686             
os       linux-gnu        
system   i686, linux-gnu  
status                    
major    1                
minor    9.0              
year     2004             
month    04               
day      12               
language R                


A little while before upgrading I noted my previous R version (for a
post that I redrafted 7 times and never sent because I found the answer
through refining my draft), and it was:
> version
         _                
platform i686-pc-linux-gnu
arch     i686             
os       linux-gnu        
system   i686, linux-gnu  
status   Patched          
major    1                
minor    8.1              
year     2004             
month    02               
day      16               
language R                


So, can I get the old help files?  Or it is easy to point me to a
documented change?  Or is it clear from my code what has changed or
what I am or was doing wrong?

Thanks.

Dave

-- 
David Whiting
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

>>>>> "David" == David Whiting <david.whiting at
ncl.ac.uk>
>>>>>     on 15 Apr 2004 11:42:18 +0000 writes:
    David> Hi,

    David> I've just upgraded to 1.9.0 and one of my Sweave
    David> files that produces a number of barplots in a
    David> standard manner now produces them in a different way.
    David> I have made a couple of small changes to my code to
    David> get the back the output I was getting before
    David> upgrading and now (mostly out of curiosity) would
    David> like to understand what has changed.

and I like to help you.
As I keep installed `(almost) all released versions of R ever
installed on our machines'
I can easily run 1.8.1 (or 1.4.x or 1.0.x ...) for you.

The only difference
 between the help page help(tapply)
is an extra   "require(stats)" statement at the beginning of the
`Examples' section in 1.9.0.

and the only change to  tapply() is 
    group <- rep.int(one, nx)#- to contain the splitting vector
instead of
    group <- rep    (one, nx)#- to contain the splitting vector

which hardly should have adverse results.

In barplot, there's the new 'offset' option  --- not in NEWS (!!!!)

and another change that may be a problem.

Can you dig harder and if possible provide a reproducible (small..)
example to make progress here...


    David> I *think* I've tracked it down to tapply() and/or
    David> barplot() and have not seen anything in the NEWS file
    David> regarding changes to these functions (as far a I can
    David> see).  As part of doing my homework, I would like to
    David> read the version 1.8.1 help files for these two
    David> functions, but now that I've upgraded I'm not sure
    David> where I can find them.  Is there a simple way for me
    David> to get copies of these two help files to compare with
    David> the versions in 1.9.0?  As far as I can see,
    David> barplot() and tapply() in 1.9.0 work as described in
    David> their 1.9.0 help files (which does not surprise me).

    David> I've been lurking on this list long enough to know
    David> that if there has been a change it is documented, so
    David> it must be that I just haven't found it yet.  If
    David> there hasn't been a change, then I am totally
    David> perplexed, because I have been running this Sweave
    David> file several times a day for the last few weeks and
    David> have not changed that part of it (I've been changing
    David> the LaTeX parts).

    David> In the part of the code that has changed I use
    David> tapply() to summarise some data and then plot it with
    David> barplot().  I now have to use matrix() on the output
    David> of tapply() before using barplot() because tapply()
    David> produces a list and barplot() wants a vector or
    David> matrix.

    David> In the code below, z is a dataframe, yllperdth is a
    David> numeric and fld is the name of a factor, both in the
    David> dataframe.

    David> Old version (as used with R 1.8.1):

    David>   ## Calculate the % of YLLs for each group in the
    David> cause classification.  x <- tapply(z$yllperdth, z[,
    David> fld], sum) totalYLLs <- sum(x) x <- x / totalYLLs *
    David> 100 x <- sort(x)
  
    David>   ## Plot the chart. horiz = TRUE makes it a bar
    David> instead of ## column chart.  las = 1 prints the
    David> labels horizontally.  xplot <- barplot(x, horiz     David>
TRUE, xlab = "Percent of YLLs", las = 1)


    David> New Version (as used with R 1.9.0):

    David>   ## Calculate the % of YLLs for each group in the
    David> cause classification.  x <- tapply(z$yllperdth, z[,
    David> fld], sum) totalYLLs <- sum(x) x <- x / totalYLLs *
    David> 100 x <- sort(x)

    David>   causeNames <- names(x) ## NEW BIT x <- matrix(x) ##
    David> NEW BIT
  

    David>   ## Plot the chart. horiz = TRUE makes it a bar
    David> instead of ## column chart.  las = 1 prints the
    David> labels horizontally.  xplot <- barplot(x, beside     David>
TRUE, ## NEW BIT names.arg = causeNames, ## NEW BIT
    David> horiz = TRUE, xlab = "Percent of YLLs", las = 1)




    >> version
    David>          _ platform i686-pc-linux-gnu arch i686 os
    David> linux-gnu system i686, linux-gnu status major 1 minor
    David> 9.0 year 2004 month 04 day 12 language R


    David> A little while before upgrading I noted my previous R
    David> version (for a post that I redrafted 7 times and
    David> never sent because I found the answer through
    David> refining my draft), and it was:

    >> version
    David>          _ platform i686-pc-linux-gnu arch i686 os
    David> linux-gnu system i686, linux-gnu status Patched major
    David> 1 minor 8.1 year 2004 month 02 day 16 language R

    David> So, can I get the old help files?  Or it is easy to
    David> point me to a documented change?  Or is it clear from
    David> my code what has changed or what I am or was doing
    David> wrong?

    David> Thanks.

    David> Dave

    David> -- David Whiting Dar es Salaam, Tanzania