promptClass             package:methods             R Documentation

Generate a Shell for Documentation of a Formal Class

Description:

     assembles all relevant slot and method information for a class,
     with minimal markup for Rd processing; no QA facilities at present

Usage:

     promptClass(clName, filename, type = "class", where)

Arguments:

  clName: character string naming the class to be documented 

filename: Usually, the filename on which the documentation shell should
          be written.  By default it is the topic name for the class
          documentation, followed by ".Rd". See the example below.  The
          argument can also be any writable connection.

    type: The documentation type to be declared in the output file.

   where: where to look for the definition of the class and of methods
          that use it.  By default, the function searches for the class
          definition on the currently attached databases. 

Details:

     The class definition is found on the search list.  Using that
     definition, information about classes extended and slots is
     determined.

     In addition, the currently available generics with methods for
     this class are found (using `getGenerics').  Note that these
     methods need not be on the same database as the class definition;
     in particular, this part of the output may depend on which
     packages are currently in the search list.

     As with other prompt-style functions, the documentation shell is
     written to a file, which will need editing to give information
     about the meaning of the class.  The output of `promptClass' can
     only contain information from the metadata about the formal
     definition and how it is used.

Value:

     The name of the file to which the shell is written (the value is
     `invisible'). A message is also printed notifying the user about
     the file.

Author(s):

     VJ Carey, stvjc@channing.harvard.edu and John Chambers

References:

     The web page <URL: http://www.omegahat.org/RSMethods/index.html>
     is the primary documentation.

     The functions in this package emulate the facility for classes and
     methods described in Programming with Data, (John M. Chambers,
     Springer, 1998).  See this book for further details and examples.

See Also:

     `prompt' for documentation of functions,  `promptMethods' for
     documentation of method definitions.

     For processing of the edited documentation, either use `R cmd
     Rdconv', or include the edited file in the `man' subdirectory of a
     package.

Examples:

     > promptClass("track")
     A shell of class documentation has been written to the 
     file "track-class.Rd".

