tidyverse/ggplot2

Compatibility between theme_sub_* functions and RStudio’s "Check arguments to R function calls" option

Closed this issue · 5 comments

ujtwr commented

When the "Check arguments to R function calls" option in RStudio is enabled, warnings appear as shown in the image. Disabling this option removes the warnings, but since I would like to use it for other parts of my work, it would be preferable for this feature to be compatible.

Image Image
teunbrand commented

Thanks for the report!

To reproduce, create a new file with the following content. Make sure it is saved.

library(ggplot2)

theme_sub_axis_x(
  title = element_blank()
)

Check the 'Check arguments to R function calls' option. A yellow note will appear at the line number and upon hover shows the diagnostics.

  • 👍1
teunbrand commented

The thing I don't understand here is why this happens with theme_sub_*(), but not with theme(). Does RStudio make an exception somewhere for a list of selected functions?

ujtwr commented

I checked the contents of the theme() function and the theme_sub_*() functions.

The formal arguments of the theme() function include three dots. As is often the case, I think they are used either to pass along unused variables or to forward arguments to the parent object, but this might be the cause.

theme_sub_axis_y()

function (title, text, ticks, ticks.length, line, minor.ticks.length) 
{
  subtheme(find_args(), "axis.", ".y")
}

theme()

function (..., line, rect, text, title, point, polygon, geom, 
  spacing, margins, aspect.ratio, axis.title, axis.title.x, 
  axis.title.x.top, axis.title.x.bottom, axis.title.y, axis.title.y.left, 
  axis.title.y.right, axis.text, axis.text.x, axis.text.x.top, 
  axis.text.x.bottom, axis.text.y, axis.text.y.left, axis.text.y.right, 
  axis.text.theta, axis.text.r, axis.ticks, axis.ticks.x, 
  axis.ticks.x.top, axis.ticks.x.bottom, axis.ticks.y, axis.ticks.y.left, 
  axis.ticks.y.right, axis.ticks.theta, axis.ticks.r, axis.minor.ticks.x.top, 
  axis.minor.ticks.x.bottom, axis.minor.ticks.y.left, axis.minor.ticks.y.right, 
  axis.minor.ticks.theta, axis.minor.ticks.r, axis.ticks.length, 
  axis.ticks.length.x, axis.ticks.length.x.top, axis.ticks.length.x.bottom, 
  axis.ticks.length.y, axis.ticks.length.y.left, axis.ticks.length.y.right, 
  axis.ticks.length.theta, axis.ticks.length.r, axis.minor.ticks.length, 
  axis.minor.ticks.length.x, axis.minor.ticks.length.x.top, 
  axis.minor.ticks.length.x.bottom, axis.minor.ticks.length.y, 
  axis.minor.ticks.length.y.left, axis.minor.ticks.length.y.right, 
  axis.minor.ticks.length.theta, axis.minor.ticks.length.r, 
  axis.line, axis.line.x, axis.line.x.top, axis.line.x.bottom, 
  axis.line.y, axis.line.y.left, axis.line.y.right, axis.line.theta, 
  axis.line.r, legend.background, legend.margin, legend.spacing, 
  legend.spacing.x, legend.spacing.y, legend.key, legend.key.size, 
  legend.key.height, legend.key.width, legend.key.spacing, 
  legend.key.spacing.x, legend.key.spacing.y, legend.key.justification, 
  legend.frame, legend.ticks, legend.ticks.length, legend.axis.line, 
  legend.text, legend.text.position, legend.title, legend.title.position, 
  legend.position, legend.position.inside, legend.direction, 
  legend.byrow, legend.justification, legend.justification.top, 
  legend.justification.bottom, legend.justification.left, 
  legend.justification.right, legend.justification.inside, 
  legend.location, legend.box, legend.box.just, legend.box.margin, 
  legend.box.background, legend.box.spacing, panel.background, 
  panel.border, panel.spacing, panel.spacing.x, panel.spacing.y, 
  panel.grid, panel.grid.major, panel.grid.minor, panel.grid.major.x, 
  panel.grid.major.y, panel.grid.minor.x, panel.grid.minor.y, 
  panel.ontop, panel.widths, panel.heights, plot.background, 
  plot.title, plot.title.position, plot.subtitle, plot.caption, 
  plot.caption.position, plot.tag, plot.tag.position, plot.tag.location, 
  plot.margin, strip.background, strip.background.x, strip.background.y, 
  strip.clip, strip.placement, strip.text, strip.text.x, strip.text.x.bottom, 
  strip.text.x.top, strip.text.y, strip.text.y.left, strip.text.y.right, 
  strip.switch.pad.grid, strip.switch.pad.wrap, complete = FALSE, 
  validate = TRUE) 
{
....
}
ujtwr commented

As a test, I copied the definition of the theme_sub_axis_y() function into the global environment, created a function with the same name but added the three dots to its arguments, and it seems that the warning disappears.

theme_sub_axis_y <- 
    function (..., title, text, ticks, ticks.length, line, minor.ticks.length) {
        subtheme(find_args(), "axis.", ".y")
    }
teunbrand commented

Ah great, thanks for finding this, I can confirm. Adding ... as an argument also ensures that we may add or remove arguments in the future, so it would actually solve 2 problems instead of 1.

  • 👍1