>>>>> "Seth" == Seth Falcon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>>>> on Thu, 14 Dec 2006 07:16:30 -0800 writes:
Seth> Martin Maechler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>> Hi Seth, Could you live with typing 'i=T' (i.e.
>> ignore.case=TRUE)?
Seth> I can live with my ~/.Rprofile, I suppose. :-)
>> In principle, I'd like to keep the default as
>> ignore.case=FALSE, since we'd really should teach the
>> users that R *is* case sensitive. Ignoring case is the
>> exception in the S/R/C world, not the rule
Seth> Let me try to argue why I think the default should be
Seth> case insensitive.
Seth> This is a _search_ function. If you aren't even
Seth> sure what something is called, how can you expect to
Seth> know how it will be capitalized? Making search
Seth> functions less likely to return what the user is
Seth> looking for seems quite odd to me.
okay, okay, yes, you've convinced me.
Thank you (and everyone else) for the feedback!
So the change will be {non-back-compatibly !} to ignore case in
apropos()
For find() -- on the same help page, similar topic --
it's less clear if a change should happen along similar lines.
Changing the *default* there is more problematic, since find()
is used, e.g., in getAnywhere().
I will probably not get to commit my changes before the weekend,
BTW.
Martin
Seth> Learning what functions are available has higher
Seth> precedence, IMO, than being reminded about case
Seth> sensitivity. Imagine a user hoping to find 'getClass'
Seth> that doesn't always remember case-sensitivity rules:
Seth> apropos("class") ## Doesn't find the function
Seth> at all. ## Writes a message to R-help without reading
Seth> the posting guide
Seth> APROPOS("class") ## user: "oh, that looks like
Seth> what I want" getclass("foo") ## user: "why didn't it
Seth> work?" ... "ah, maybe I have to spell ## it exactly"
Seth> getClass("foo") ## happy user
Seth> Remember, the _results_ will be displayed in proper
Seth> case and a common next step (should be) to read the
Seth> man page and possibly try an example -- especially if
Seth> a first attempt fails.
Seth> Have I made any progress?
indeed!
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