objBrowse: Functions to implement an object browser

Description

These functions provide features required to implement a complete object browser in a GUI client.
Usage

objBrowse(id = "default", envir = .GlobalEnv, all.names = NULL, pattern = NULL,
    group = NULL, sep = "", path = NULL, regenerate = FALSE)
objClear(id = "default")
objDir()
objInfo(id = "default", envir = .GlobalEnv, object = "", path = NULL)
objList(id = "default", envir = .GlobalEnv, object = NULL, all.names = FALSE,
    pattern = "", group = "", all.info = FALSE, sep = "", path = NULL,
    compare = TRUE, ...)

objMenu(id = "default", envir = .GlobalEnv, objects = "", sep = "",
    path = NULL)
objSearch(sep = "", path = NULL, compare = TRUE)

## S3 method for class 'objList':
print(x, sep = NA, eol = "\n", header = !attr(x, "all.info"),
    raw.output = !is.na(sep), ...)

write.objList(x, path, sep = "", ...)

id{ the id of the object browser (you can run several ones
    concurrently, providing you give them different ids). }
  envir{ an environment, or the name of the environment, or the position
    in the search() path. }
  all.names{ do we display all names (including hidden variables starting
    with '.')? }
  pattern{ a pattern to match for selecting variables. }
  group{ a group to filter. }
  path{ the path where to write a temporary file with the requested
    information. Set to NULL (default) if you don't pass this data to your GUI
	client by mean of a file. }
  regenerate{ do we force to regenerate the information? }
  object{ name of the object selected in the object browser,
	components/arguments of which should be listed. }
  objects{ a list with selected items in the object browser }
  all.info{ do we return all the information (envir as first column or
    not (by default). }
  compare{ if TRUE, result is compared with last cached value and the
    client is updated only if something changed. }
  sep{ separator to use between items (if path is not NULL). }
  x{ object returned by objList. }
  eol{ separator to use between object entries, default is to list each
	item in a separate line. }
  header{ if TRUE, two-line header is printed, of the form: 
Environment = environment name 
Object = object name 
Default is not to print header if all.info is true. }
  raw.output{ if TRUE, a compact, better suited for parsing output is
    produced. }
  ...{ further arguments, passed to write.table. }

objBrowse() does the horsework. objDir() gets the temporary
  directory where exchange files are stored, in case you exchange data through
  files. You can use a better way to communicate with your GUI (you have to
  provide your code) and disable writing to files by using path = NULL.
  
  objList() lists objects in a given environment, elements of a recursive
  object or function argument.
  
  objSearch() lists the search path.
  
  objClear() clears any reference to a given object browser.
  
  objInfo() computes a tooltip info for a given object.
  
  objMenu() computes a context menu for selected object(s) in the object
  explorer managed by the GUI client.
  
  print.objList() print method for objList objects.

Depending on the function, a list, a string, a reference to an external,
  temporary file or TRUE in case of success or FALSE otherwise
  is returned invisibly.

[object Object],[object Object]

Complete, CallTip

## Create various context menus
data(iris)
(objInfo(object = "iris"))
data(trees)
## For one object
(objMenu(objects = "iris"))
## For multiple objects
(objMenu(objects = c("iris", "trees")))
## For inxistant object (return "")
(objInfo(object = "noobject"))
(objMenu(objects = "noobject"))
rm(iris, trees)

## For environments
(objInfo(envir = ".GlobalEnv"))
(objMenu(envir = ".GlobalEnv"))
(objInfo(envir = "SciViews:TempEnv"))
(objMenu(envir = "SciViews:TempEnv"))
(objInfo(envir = "package:datasets"))
(objMenu(envir = "package:datasets"))
## For an environment that does not exist on the search path (return "")
(objInfo(envir = "noenvir"))
(objMenu(envir = "noenvir"))

misc

Graphical User Interface (GUI), object explorer
Description

Usage

Arguments
