[R] more structure than 'str'?

Spencer Graves
2007-12-17T02:44:53Z

How can I see more of the structure than displayed by 'str'?
Consider the following:


tstDF <- data.frame(a=1, row.names='b')
 > str(tstDF)
'data.frame':   1 obs. of  1 variable:
 $ a: num 1


      The object 'tstDF' has row.names, but I have to suspect they are
there -- AND know a function like 'row.names' or 'dimnames' --
to see
them.

      I've found 'str' extremely valuable for understanding and
explaining to others the internal structure of an R object.   In many
cases, it has helped me find fairly simple ways to do things with R
objects that might have been much more difficult and perhaps infeasible
without 'str' -- and without access to the right expert, who may not be
available in the time I have to solve a particular problem.

      Thanks again to Martin Maechler, who wrote 'str', and to everyone
else who has replied to questions from me over the years.

      Best Wishes,
      Spencer Graves
p.s.  'methods(class="data.frame")' would help in this
example.
However, 'methods' won't always find all available and recommended
extractor functions.  For example, 'methods(class="lm")' was
not able to
find 'AIC' for me just now.