Roxygen2 - how to properly document S3 methods

Question

I\'ve read the Roxygen2 PDF as well as this site and I\'m lost about the difference between @method @S3method @export and how you use these to properly document S3 methods.

Answer 1

As of roxygen2 >3.0.0, you only need @export:

#' A description of MyHappyFunction
#'
#' A details of MyHappyFunction
#'
#' @title MyHappyFunction: The my happy function
#' @param x numeric number
#' @param ... other arguments
#' @examples
#' a <- 1
#' class(a) <- "lm"
#' MyHappyFunction(a)
#' @export
MyHappyFunction <- function(x, ...){
  UseMethod("MyHappyFunction")
}

#' @rdname MyHappyFunction
#' @export
MyHappyFunction.lm = function(x, ...) {
  # do some magic
}

#' @rdname MyHappyFunction
#' @export
MyHappyFunction.default = function(x, ...) {
  # do some magic
}

But since you're not actually documenting the methods, the following is sufficient:

#' A description of MyHappyFunction
#'
#' A details of MyHappyFunction
#'
#' @title MyHappyFunction: The my happy function
#' @param x numeric number
#' @param ... other arguments
#' @examples
#' a <- 1
#' class(a) <- "lm"
#' MyHappyFunction(a)
#' @export
MyHappyFunction <- function(x, ...){
  UseMethod("MyHappyFunction")
}

#' @export
MyHappyFunction.lm = function(x, ...) {
  # do some magic
}

#' @export
MyHappyFunction.default = function(x, ...) {
  # do some magic
}

Answer 2

The @method tag generates \method entries in the \usage field in Rd files.

The @S3method tag generates S3method() entries in the NAMESPACE file.

The @export tag generates export() entries in the NAMESPACE file.

Here is my example:

#' A description of MyHappyFunction
#'
#' A details of MyHappyFunction
#'
#' @title MyHappyFunction: The my happy function
#' @param x numeric number
#' @param ... other arguments
#' @examples
#' a <- 1
#' class(a) <- "lm"
#' MyHappyFunction(a)
#'
#' @rdname MyHappyFunction
#' @export MyHappyFunction
MyHappyFunction <- function(x, ...){
  UseMethod("MyHappyFunction")
}

#' @return \code{NULL}
#'
#' @rdname MyHappyFunction
#' @method MyHappyFunction lm
#' @S3method MyHappyFunction lm
MyHappyFunction.lm = function(x, ...) {
  # do some magic
}

#' @return \code{NULL}
#'
#' @rdname MyHappyFunction
#' @method MyHappyFunction default
#' @S3method MyHappyFunction default
MyHappyFunction.default = function(x, ...) {
  # do some magic
}

3 From the wiki page...

I guess that it means "you do not write @S3method generic mymethod myobject."