R devel - Oct 2010 - Recursion error after upgrade to R_2.11.1 [Sec=Unclassified]

Hi all,

After an upgrade from R_2.10.1 to R_2.11.1 I am now getting the following error:
Error: evaluation nested too deeply: infinite recursion / options(expressions=)?

This occurs in the initialize method of S4 classes where I was initialising
attributes eg:
.Object[['realtimeState']] <- list()

I can avoid this new error by altering the code to do:
.Object$realtimeState <- list() OR .Object@.xData$realtimeState <- list()

My classes all extend .environment and store all changeable data as per above
(in environment .xData slot) rather than in normal class slots because I am able
to achieve much quicker execution times without all the copy-on-change cost that
results from passing these objects containing large amounts of slot-based data.


Can anyone provide a reason for the changes that have brought about the
recursion issue?

Is there a better way to achieve the pass-by-reference style objects I am after?


Thanks

Troy

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Resending this in plain text, after realising the html text hadn't been
posted (oops).

Hi all,

After an upgrade from R_2.10.1 to R_2.11.1 I am now getting the following error:
Error: evaluation nested too deeply: infinite recursion / options(expressions=)?

This occurs in the initialize method of S4 classes where I was initialising
attributes eg:
.Object[['realtimeState']] <- list()

I can mostly avoid this new error by altering the code to do:
.Object$realtimeState <- list() OR .Object at .xData$realtimeState <-
list()

But there are also times when I need to do .Object[realtimeState] <-
list(NULL) in order to specifically set it to NULL (rather than have it removed)
which I think is also causing me grief.

My classes all extend .environment and store all non-static data as per above
(in environment .xData slot) rather than in normal class slots because I am able
to achieve much quicker execution times without all the copy-on-change cost that
results from passing these objects containing large amounts of slot-based data.


Can anyone provide a reason for the changes that have brought about the
recursion issue?

Is there a better way to achieve the pass-by-reference style objects I am after?


Thanks

Troy

___________________________________________________________________________

    Australian Antarctic Division - Commonwealth of Australia
IMPORTANT: This transmission is intended for the addressee only. If you are not
the
intended recipient, you are notified that use or dissemination of this
communication is
strictly prohibited by Commonwealth law. If you have received this transmission
in error,
please notify the sender immediately by e-mail or by telephoning +61 3 6232 3209
and
DELETE the message.
        Visit our web site at http://www.antarctica.gov.au/
___________________________________________________________________________

Hi all,

After no replies to my previous message I thought I might show some code to
demonstrate the change and again seek any explanation for the error now thrown
by my code after upgrading from 2.10.1 to 2.11.1.

Thanks
Troy
--------------------------------------------------------
setClass("PortableObject",
        representation(test1    = "character"),

        prototype(      test1   = ""),
          contains = ".environment"
)

setMethod("initialize", "PortableObject",
    function(.Object, ..., .xData=new.env(parent=emptyenv())) {
                .Object <- callNextMethod(.Object, ..., .xData=.xData)

                .Object at test1 <- "Foo"
                # Following line works under 2.10.1 but now throws
                # Error: evaluation nested too deeply: infinite recursion /
options(expressions=)?
                #####.Object[["test2"]] <- "Bar"
                # The following does what I want though
                .Object$test3 <- "Baa"

                return(.Object)
        }
)

e <- new("PortableObject")

alterEGo <- function(o = "EPOCObject") {
        o at test1 <- "Boo"

        # Following line works under 2.10.1 but now throws
        # Error: evaluation nested too deeply: infinite recursion /
options(expressions=)?
        ####o[["test2"]] <- "Who"
        # The following does what I want though
        o$test3 <- "Hoo"

        # NOTE: No return
}

alterEGo(e)
e at test1
e$test2
e[["test3"]]
e at .xData[["test3"]]
___________________________________________________________________________

    Australian Antarctic Division - Commonwealth of Australia
IMPORTANT: This transmission is intended for the addressee only. If you are not
the
intended recipient, you are notified that use or dissemination of this
communication is
strictly prohibited by Commonwealth law. If you have received this transmission
in error,
please notify the sender immediately by e-mail or by telephoning +61 3 6232 3209
and
DELETE the message.
        Visit our web site at http://www.antarctica.gov.au/
___________________________________________________________________________