R: Access to and Manipulation of the Formal Arguments

formals {base} | R Documentation

## Access to and Manipulation of the Formal Arguments

### Description

Get or set the formal arguments of a `function`.

### Usage

    formals(fun = sys.function(sys.parent()), envir = parent.frame())
    formals(fun, envir = environment(fun)) <- value

### Arguments

`fun` | a `function`, or see ‘Details’.
`envir` | `environment` in which the function should be defined (or found via `get()` in the first case and when `fun` a character string).
`value` | a `list` (or `pairlist`) of R expressions.

### Details

For the first form, `fun` can also be a character string naming the function to be manipulated, which is searched for in `envir`, by default from the parent frame. If it is not specified, the function calling `formals` is used.

Only closures have formals, not primitive functions.

### Value

`formals` returns the formal argument list of the function specified, as a `pairlist`, or `NULL` for a non-function or primitive.

The replacement form sets the formals of a function to the list/pairlist on the right hand side, and (potentially) resets the environment of the function.

### See Also

`formalArgs` (from methods), a shortcut for `names(formals(.))`. `args` for a human-readable version, `alist`, `body`, `function`.

### Examples

    require(stats)
    formals(lm)

    ## If you just want the names of the arguments, use formalArgs instead.
    names(formals(lm))
    methods:: formalArgs(lm)     # same

    ## formals returns a pairlist. Arguments with no default have type symbol (aka name).
    str(formals(lm))

    ## formals returns NULL for primitive functions.  Use it in combination with
    ## args for this case.
    is.primitive(`+`)
    formals(`+`)
    formals(args(`+`))

    ## You can overwrite the formal arguments of a function (though this is
    ## advanced, dangerous coding).
    f <- function(x) a + b
    formals(f) <- alist(a = , b = 3)
    f    # function(a, b = 3) a + b
    f(2) # result = 5

[Package base version 4.0.5 Index]