R help - May 2010 - Svy function doesn't work nested in user-defined function

Hi R-help,

I posted about this late yesterday but got no response. I may have put
TMI in the original request.  Not to mention I couldn't cut and paste
yesterday because I was working R off a non-network computer while
asking for help on a network computer.


Essentially, I have this user-defined function:

test <- function(X){
                  
  			
            	chisq <- svychisq(~X + SEX, design=audit,
statisic="adjWald", round=4)
			
}

test(con)



"con" is a data variable in my design object audit.

When I just run: 

chisq <- svychisq(~X + SEX, design=audit, statisic="adjWald",
round=4)

It works just fine.  

It's only when it's nested in the function test() that it falls apart.  

I get this error:

Error in `[.data.frame`(design$variables, , as.character(rows)) : 
  undefined columns selected


How can I solve this problem?

Thanks,

Jen (obviously a new R-user, as of late 2009)

I'm not sure that this is the problem, but are you certain that the variable
'con' is in audit ?  You check outside the function just really tells
you
that X and SEX are in audit.

hth, david freedman (good to see another CDCer using R)
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On May 20, 2010, at 11:24 AM, Sabatier, Jennifer F. (CDC/OID/NCHHSTP)  
wrote:
>
> Hi R-help,
>
> I posted about this late yesterday but got no response. I may have put
> TMI in the original request.  Not to mention I couldn't cut and paste
> yesterday because I was working R off a non-network computer while
> asking for help on a network computer.
>
>
> Essentially, I have this user-defined function:
>
> test <- function(X){
>
>  			
>            	chisq <- svychisq(~X + SEX, design=audit,
Did you really have a variable name "X" inside the object that you are
giving a temporary name of "X" to. Seems confusing if that were your  
choice.
> statisic="adjWald", round=4)
> 			
> }
>
> test(con)
>
I do not know the answer, but I'm not sure that anyone including  
Lumley could answer it with the proffered information:

Perhaps you should include the code used to create "audit" as well as
the results of str() on the data argument to design when audit was  
created. I am guessing that "SEX" is not available inside the function
and that you should have written:

test <- function(Z){ 			
            	chisq <- svychisq(~X + SEX, design=Z,
                                     statistic="adjWald", round=4)
			
}


-- 
David.

>
>
> "con" is a data variable in my design object audit.
>
> When I just run:
>
> chisq <- svychisq(~X + SEX, design=audit, statisic="adjWald",
round=4)
>
> It works just fine.
>
> It's only when it's nested in the function test() that it falls
apart.
>
> I get this error:
>
> Error in `[.data.frame`(design$variables, , as.character(rows)) :
>  undefined columns selected
>
>
> How can I solve this problem?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jen (obviously a new R-user, as of late 2009)
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> PLEASE do read the posting guide
http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
David Winsemius, MD
West Hartford, CT