bru_input: Store and evaluate component inputs

In inlabru: Bayesian Latent Gaussian Modelling using INLA and Extensions

Store and evaluate component inputs

Description

Store and evaluate component inputs, including support for non-standard-evaluation with rlang, automatic transfer to function calls, eval_spatial(), and MatrixModels::model.Matrix().

These functions are normally only called internally, but users may find it useful to call them directly to experiment, and to make advanced model definitions using ibm_input_set/ibm_input_new().

Usage

new_bru_input(input, label = NULL, layer = NULL, selector = NULL, ...)

bru_input(...)

## S3 method for class 'bru_input'
bru_input(
  x,
  data = NULL,
  mask = NULL,
  null.on.fail = FALSE,
  .envir = parent.frame(),
  ...
)

## S3 method for class 'bru_comp'
bru_input(x, ..., label = x$label)

## S3 method for class 'bru_comp_list'
bru_input(x, ...)

## S3 method for class 'bru_model'
bru_input(x, lhoods = deprecated(), ...)

## S3 method for class 'bru_obs'
bru_input(x, components, ...)

## S3 method for class 'bru_obs_list'
bru_input(x, components, ...)

## S3 method for class 'bru_mapper'
bru_input(x, ..., label = "<unknown>")

## S3 method for class 'bm_pipe'
bru_input(x, ..., label = "<unknown>")

## S3 method for class 'bm_multi'
bru_input(x, ..., label = "<unknown>")

## S3 method for class 'bm_collect'
bru_input(x, ..., label = "<unknown>")

## S3 method for class 'bm_repeat'
bru_input(x, ..., label = "<unknown>")

## S3 method for class 'bm_sum'
bru_input(x, ..., label = "<unknown>")

Arguments

input	An expression to be evaluated.
label	character; optional label used to identify the object in informational messages.
layer	Optional expression that evaluates layer names or indices for use with eval_spatial()
selector	character or integer; optional selector for use with use with eval_spatial()
...	Passed on to sub-methods.
x	A bru_input object, or other object for recursive evaluation.
data	A data.frame, tibble, sf, list, or ⁠Spatial*⁠ object of covariates and/or point locations.
mask	A bru_data_mask object, constructed internally.
null.on.fail	logical; if TRUE, return NULL if the input evaluation fails. If FALSE (default), return a vector of 1s and issue a warning (only for deprecated use of coordinates without having loaded the sp package), or stop with an error.
.envir	environment in which to evaluate the input expression. Default is parent.frame()
lhoods	from ⁠2.14.1.9011⁠, as it's now part of the bru_model object. A bru_obs_list object containing all observations models.
components	A bru_comp_list object containing all components defined in the model.

Value

• bru_input(bru_comp): A list of mapper input values, formatted for the full component mapper (of type bm_pipe)

• bru_input(bru_comp_list): A list of mapper input values, with one entry for each component.

• bru_input(bru_model): A list of mapper input values, with one entry for each observation model, each containing a list of inputs for the components used by the corresponding observation model.

• bru_input(bru_obs): A list of mapper input values, for each of the components used by the corresponding observation model.

• bru_input(bru_obs_list): A list of mapper input values, with one entry for each observation model, each containing a list of inputs for the components used by the corresponding observation model.

• bru_input(bru_mapper): The evaluated input associated with a mapper; see ibm_input for details on how to associate a bru_input with a bru_mapper.

Methods (by class)

• bru_input(bru_input): Attempts to evaluate a component input (e.g. main, group, replicate, or weight), and process the results:

  1. If rlang::eval_tidy() failed, return NULL or map everything to 1 (see the null.on.fail argument). This should normally not happen, unless the component use logic is incorrect, (via used) leading to missing columns for a certain likelihood in a multi-bru_obs() model.

  2. If we obtain a function, apply the function to the data object

  3. If we obtain an object supported by eval_spatial(), extract the values of that data frame at the point locations

  4. If we obtain a formula, call ModelMatrix::model.Matrix()

  5. Else we obtain a vector and return as-is. This happens when input references a column of the data points, or some other complete expression

• bru_input(bru_model): Computes the component inputs for included components for each observation model.

• bru_input(bru_mapper): Evaluate the input associated with a bru_mapper.

• bru_input(bm_pipe): Evaluate the inputs for each sub-mapper in a bm_pipe object.

• bru_input(bm_multi): Evaluate the inputs for each sub-mapper in a bm_multi object.

• bru_input(bm_collect): Evaluate the inputs for each sub-mapper in a bm_collect object.

• bru_input(bm_repeat): Evaluate the inputs for the sub-mapper in a bm_repeat object.

• bru_input(bm_sum): Evaluate the inputs for each sub-mapper in a bm_sum object.

Functions

• new_bru_input(): Create a bru_input object.

• bru_input(): Evaluate inputs

Simple covariates and the input parameters

It is not unusual for a random effect act on a transformation of a covariate. In other frameworks this would mean that the transformed covariate would have to be calculated in advance and added to the data frame that is usually provided via the data parameter. inlabru provides the option to do this transformation automatically. For instance, one might be interested in the effect of a covariate x^2. In inla and other frameworks this would require to add a column xsquared to the input data frame and use the formula

• formula = y ~ f(xsquared, model = "linear"),

In inlabru this can be achieved in several ways of using the main parameter (map in version 2.1.13 and earlier), which does not need to be named.

• components = y ~ psi(x^2, model = "linear")

• components = y ~ psi(main = x^2, model = "linear")

• components = y ~ psi(mySquareFun(x), model = "linear"),

• components = y ~ psi(myOtherSquareFun, model = "linear"),

In the first example inlabru will interpret the map parameter as an expression to be evaluated within the data provided. Since x is a known covariate it will know how to calculate it. The second example is an expression as well but it uses a function called mySquareFun. This function is defined by user but has to be accessible within the work space when setting up the components. The third example provides the function myOtherSquareFun. In this case, inlabru will call the function as myOtherSquareFun(.data.), where .data. is the data provided via the bru_obs() data parameter. The function needs to know what parts of the data to use to construct the needed output. For example,

myOtherSquareFun <- function(data) {
  data[ ,"x"]^2
}

Interactions can be handled by a formula input and model = "fixed": components = y ~ 0 + name(~ 1 + x:z, model = "fixed")

Spatial Covariates

When fitting spatial models it is common to work with covariates that depend on space, e.g. sea surface temperature or elevation. Although it is straightforward to add this data to the input data frame or write a covariate function like in the previous section there is an even more convenient way in inlabru. Spatial covariates are often stored as SpatialPixelsDataFrame, SpatialPixelsDataFrame or RasterLayer objects. These can be provided directly via the input expressions if they are supported by eval_spatial(), and the bru_obs() data is an sf or SpatialPointsDataFrame object. inlabru will then automatically evaluate and/or interpolate the covariate at your data locations when using code like

components = y ~ psi(mySpatialPixels, model = "linear")

For more precise control, use the the layer and selector arguments (see bru_comp()), or call eval_spatial() directly, e.g.:

components = y ~ psi(eval_spatial(mySpatialPixels, where = .data.),
                     model = "linear")

Coordinates

A common spatial modelling component when using inla are SPDE models. An important feature of inlabru is that it will automatically calculate the so called A-matrix (a component model matrix) which maps SPDE values at the mesh vertices to values at the data locations. For this purpose, the input can be set to coordinates, which is the sp package function that extracts point coordinates from the SpatialPointsDataFrame that was provided as input to bru_obs(). The code for this would look as follows:

components = y ~ field(coordinates, model = inla.spde2.matern(...))

Since coordinates is a function from the sp package, this results in evaluation of sp::coordinates(.data.), which loses any CRS information from the data object.

For sf data with a geometry column (by default named geometry), use

components = y ~ field(geometry, model = inla.spde2.matern(...))

Since the CRS information is part of the geometry column of the sf object, this retains CRS information, so this is more robust, and allows the model to be built on a different CRS than the observation data.

Author(s)

Fabian E. Bachl [e-mail], Finn Lindgren [e-mail]

See Also

bru_input_text()

summary.bru_input(), bru_comp()

ibm_input

Examples

(inp <- new_bru_input(x, "LABEL"))
bru_input(inp, data.frame(x = 1:3))

inlabru documentation built on July 28, 2026, 9:07 a.m.