Generate ggplot and return output from function call

Question

I've got a problem when creating a ggplot as a side-effect of a function call:

MWE:

library(ggplot2)

dat <- data.frame(x = 1:10,
  y = rnorm(10, 11:20),
  id = sample(letters[1:3], 10, replace= T))

MegaFunction <- function(df) {
  # do something to the data
  df$y <- df$y - 10
  # plot it
  NicePlot(df)
  # return output
  return(df)
}

NicePlot <- function(x) {
  ggplot(x, aes(x = x, y = y, col = id)) +
    geom_point()
}

MegaFunction(dat)  # returns values, but doesn't plot
out <- MegaFunction(dat)  # returns values as out
NicePlot(out)      # plots values successfully

So the problem is that I can not create the plots using MegaFunction, but I can do it when I call NicePlot on the output of MegaFunction (as expected). This probably has something to do with the environment the function is called from, but I cannot figure it out. Any ideas? In base R this does work.

From MegaFunction return: return(list(plotResult = NicePlot(df), dataResult = df)) — pogibas
– pogibas, Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 13:31
@Marco thanks! That works and is nice and simple. If you want you can enter it as an answer that I will mark as "the answer". — Japhir
– Japhir, Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 14:00

Japhir · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-10 09:37:04Z

1

As @Marco Sandri pointed out, I simply had to wrap the wrapper function in a print command.

print(NicePlot(df))

answered Oct 10, 2017 at 9:37

Japhir

5743 silver badges18 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Generate ggplot and return output from function call

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related