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% File src/library/base/man/standardGeneric.Rd
% Part of the R package, https://www.R-project.org
% Copyright 1995-2016 R Core Team
% Distributed under GPL 2 or later
\name{standardGeneric}
\alias{standardGeneric}
\title{Formal Method System -- Dispatching S4 Methods}
\description{
The function \code{standardGeneric} initiates dispatch of S4
methods: see the references and the documentation of the
\pkg{methods} package. Usually, calls to this function are
generated automatically and not explicitly by the programmer.
}
\usage{
standardGeneric(f, fdef)
}
\arguments{
\item{f}{
The name of the generic.
}
\item{fdef}{
The generic function definition. Never passed when
defining a new generic.
}
}
\details{
\code{standardGeneric} dispatches the method defined for a generic
function named \code{f}, using the actual arguments in the frame from which
it is called.
The argument \code{fdef} is inserted (automatically) when dispatching
methods for a primitive function. If present, it must always be the function
definition for the corresponding generic. Don't insert this argument
by hand, as there is no validity checking and miss-specifying the
function definition will cause certain failure.
For more, use the \pkg{methods} package, and see the documentation in
\code{\link{GenericFunctions}}.
}
\author{ John Chambers }
\references{
Chambers, John M. (2008)
\emph{Software for Data Analysis: Programming with R}
Springer. (For the R version.)
Chambers, John M. (1998)
\emph{Programming with Data}
Springer (For the original S4 version.)
}
\keyword{programming}