initializeFlags,oce-method: Create storage for a flag, and initialize values, for a oce object

Description

This function creates an item for a named variable within the flags entry in the object's metadata slot. The purpose is both to document a flag scheme and to make it so that initializeFlags and setFlags can specify flags by name, in addition to number. A generic function, it is specialized for some classes via interpretation of the scheme argument (see “Details”, for those object classes that have such specializations).

Usage

# S4 method for oce
initializeFlags(object, name = NULL, value = NULL,
  debug = getOption("oceDebug"))

Arguments

object

An oce object.

name

Character value indicating the name of a variable within the data slot of object.

value

Numerical or character value to be stored in the newly-created entry within flags. (A character value will only work if initializeFlags has been used first on object.)

debug

Integer set to 0 for quiet action or to 1 for some debugging.

Value

An object with the flags item within the metadata slot set up as indicated.

Caution

This function was added in early May, 2018, and is likely to undergo changes until the mid-summer of that year. Use with caution.

Details

If object already contains a flags entry with the indicated name, then it is returned unaltered, and a warning is issued.