Dictionary: Dictionary R6 Object

In oeli: Some Utilities for Developing Data Science Software

Dictionary R6 Object

Description

Provides a simple key-value interface based on R6.

Active bindings

keys

[character()]
Available keys.

alias

[list()]
Available keys per alias value.

Methods

Public methods

• Dictionary$new()

• Dictionary$add()

• Dictionary$get()

• Dictionary$remove()

• Dictionary$print()

---

Method new()

Initializing a new Dictionary object.

Usage

Dictionary$new(
  key_name,
  alias_name = NULL,
  value_names = character(),
  value_assert = alist(),
  allow_overwrite = TRUE,
  keys_reserved = character(),
  alias_choices = NULL,
  dictionary_name = NULL
)

Arguments

key_name

[character(1)]
The name for the key variable.

alias_name

[NULL | character(1)]
Optionally the name for the alias variable.

value_names

[character(0)]
The names of the values connected to a key.

value_assert

[alist(1)]
For each element in value_names, values_assert can have an identically named element of the form checkmate::assert*(...), where ... can be any argument for the assertion function except for the x argument.

allow_overwrite

[logical(1)]
Allow overwriting existing keys with new values? Duplicate keys are never allowed.

keys_reserved

[character()]
Names that must not be used as keys.

alias_choices

[NULL or character()]
Optionally possible values for the alias. Can also be NULL, then all alias values are allowed.

dictionary_name

[NULL or character()]
Optionally the name for the dictionary.

---

Method add()

Adding an element to the dictionary.

Usage

Dictionary$add(...)

Arguments

...

Values for

• the key variable key_name (must be a single character),

• the alias variable alias_name (optionally, must then be a character vector),

• all the variables specified for value_names (if any, they must comply to the value_assert checks).

---

Method get()

Getting elements from the dictionary.

Usage

Dictionary$get(key, value = NULL)

Arguments

key

[character(1)]
A value for the key variable key_name. Use the $keys method for available keys.

value

[NULL | character(1)]
One of the elements in value_names, selecting the required value. Can also be NULL (default) for all values connected to the key, returned as a list.

---

Method remove()

Removing elements from the dictionary (and associated alias, if any).

Usage

Dictionary$remove(key)

Arguments

key

[character(1)]
A value for the key variable key_name. Use the $keys method for available keys.

---

Method print()

Printing details of the dictionary.

Usage

Dictionary$print()

See Also

Other package helpers: Storage, check_missing(), find_namespace_calls(), identical_structure(), input_check_response(), match_arg(), package_logo(), print_data.frame(), print_matrix(), system_information(), unexpected_error(), user_confirm()

Examples

# Managing variable metadata for a dataset

meta_dict <- Dictionary$new(
  key_name = "var_name",
  alias_name = "category",
  value_names = c("label", "type"),
  value_assert = alist(
    label = checkmate::assert_string(),
    type = checkmate::assert_choice(choices = c("numeric", "factor", "character"))
  ),
  allow_overwrite = FALSE,
  keys_reserved = c("id"),
  alias_choices = c("demographics", "outcome", "other"),
  dictionary_name = "Variable Metadata"
)

# Add entries to the dictionary
meta_dict$add(
  var_name = "age",
  label = "Age of respondent",
  type = "numeric",
  category = "demographics"
)

meta_dict$add(
  var_name = "gender",
  label = "Gender identity",
  type = "factor",
  category = "demographics"
)

meta_dict$add(
  var_name = "income",
  label = "Annual income in USD",
  type = "numeric",
  category = c("demographics", "outcome")
)

# Print dictionary
meta_dict$print()

# Retrieve full metadata for a variable
meta_dict$get("income")

# Retrieve a specific piece of metadata
meta_dict$get("income", value = "label")

# Show variables by category
meta_dict$alias

oeli documentation built on Aug. 18, 2025, 5:24 p.m.