[datatable-help] A new package multitable (data.list) remind me of a long existing feature request #202 and discussion thread

[steve walker]

I think I agree Matthew, that the matrix in #202 is a little too restrictive
for multitable, although I'll look into it more.  The main benefits of the
multitable package really emerge when several vectors, matrices, or arrays
with different dimensions and lengths are to be related in a single object
(called a data.list).  Such situations are more complex than #202.  The
simplest situation for which multitable is interesting is when you have a
matrix-valued response variable, with a data.frame of predictors for the
rows and another data.frame of predictors for the columns.  In my field of
ecology this is called the fourth-corner problem
(http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/0012-9658%281997%29078%5B0547:RBTHST%5D2.0.CO%3B2).

Steve.



On Thu, 2011-09-29 at 13:33 -0500, Branson Owen wrote:
> To data.table core team, will multitable (data.list) package make it
> easy to implement feature #202?

I'm not sure it will. The matrix that #202 is about would have the same
number of rows as the data.table. That might be too restrictive for
multitable.  All the examples I know of so far can be implemented as
long or wide format with NAs (or no rows), or joining together tables.
multitable seems to be encapsulating the tables and the relationships
into one object i.e. a level above data.table?


--
View this message in context: http://r.789695.n4.nabble.com/A-new-package-multitable-data-list-remind-me-of-a-long-existing-feature-request-202-and-discussion-td-tp3857125p3867526.html
Sent from the datatable-help mailing list archive at Nabble.com.