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).

# 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.

Details

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