R devel - Mar 2012 - isGeneric() can return an error

Hi,

I wonder if this is a feature or a bug:

   > isGeneric("&&")
   Error in genericForPrimitive(f) :
     methods may not be defined for primitive function ?&&? in this 
version of R
   > isGeneric(":")
   Error in genericForPrimitive(f) :
     methods may not be defined for primitive function ?:? in this 
version of R

According to the man page:

      ?isGeneric?: Is there a function named ?f?, and if so, is it a
           generic?

So it sounds like it should be a YES or NO answer.

In any case the error message is confusing: it suggests that I'm trying
to define methods for "&&", but I'm not.

This is with R 2.13, R 2.14 and R 2.15.0 alpha.

Thanks,
H.

-- 
Herv? Pag?s

Program in Computational Biology
Division of Public Health Sciences
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
1100 Fairview Ave. N, M1-B514
P.O. Box 19024
Seattle, WA 98109-1024

E-mail: hpages at fhcrc.org
Phone:  (206) 667-5791
Fax:    (206) 667-1319

Bug.  Should be fixed (rev 58642) in r-devel and R 2.15.0 alpha.

Thanks.

On 3/7/12 3:30 PM, Herv? Pag?s wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I wonder if this is a feature or a bug:
>
> > isGeneric("&&")
>   Error in genericForPrimitive(f) :
>     methods may not be defined for primitive function ?&&? in this 
> version of R
> > isGeneric(":")
>   Error in genericForPrimitive(f) :
>     methods may not be defined for primitive function ?:? in this 
> version of R
>
> According to the man page:
>
>      ?isGeneric?: Is there a function named ?f?, and if so, is it a
>           generic?
>
> So it sounds like it should be a YES or NO answer.
>
> In any case the error message is confusing: it suggests that I'm trying
> to define methods for "&&", but I'm not.
>
> This is with R 2.13, R 2.14 and R 2.15.0 alpha.
>
> Thanks,
> H.
>