R: Serialization of record linkage object.

clone {RecordLinkage} | R Documentation

## Serialization of record linkage object.

### Description

Saving, loading and deep copying of record linkage objects for big data sets.

### Usage

      clone(object, ...)
      saveRLObject(object, file, ...)
      loadRLObject(file)

### Arguments

`object` | Object of class `"RLBigData"`. The object to save.
`file` | The name of the file to save to or load from.
`...` | Optional arguments for possible additions, currently not used.

### Details

The classes for big data sets make use of file-backed data structures from the ff package, therefore the `load` and `save` mechanism of R is not sufficient for persistent storage of these objects. Also, assignment via `<-` does not duplicate the ff data structures.

`clone` makes a deep copy of an object by duplicating the underlying files.

`saveRLObject` saves an object to zip file containing a dump of the R object as well as the associated ff files.

`loadRLObject` loads an object from a file saved by `saveRLObject`.

`clone` and `saveRLObject` are generic functions with methods for `"RLBigData"` and `"RLResult"`.

If `loadRLObject` is called with `inPlace = FALSE` (the default), a working copy of the database is made in a temporary file and the original file left untouched. Calling with `inPlace = TRUE` sets the provided file as working copy and changes made to the database are persistent. This option is useful when working with large files in order to prevent disk usage overhead.

`saveRLObject` and `loadRLObject` require working zip / unzip programs.

### Value

`clone` returns a deep copy of `object`.

`loadRLObject` returns the loaded object.

`saveRLObject` is used for its side effects.

### Note

Objects loaded with `inPlace = TRUE` must be saved again after changes have been made to the object (e.g. calculation of weights).

### Author(s)

Andreas Borg, Murat Sariyar

[Package RecordLinkage version 0.4-11.2 Index]