人们使用什么技巧来管理交互式R会话的可用内存?我使用下面的函数[基于Petr Pikal和David Hinds在2004年发布的r-help列表]来列出(和/或排序)最大的对象，并偶尔rm()其中一些对象。但到目前为止最有效的解决办法是……在64位Linux下运行，有充足的内存。
大家还有什么想分享的妙招吗?请每人寄一份。
# improved list of objects
.ls.objects <- function (pos = 1, pattern, order.by,
decreasing=FALSE, head=FALSE, n=5) {
napply <- function(names, fn) sapply(names, function(x)
fn(get(x, pos = pos)))
names <- ls(pos = pos, pattern = pattern)
obj.class <- napply(names, function(x) as.character(class(x))[1])
obj.mode <- napply(names, mode)
obj.type <- ifelse(is.na(obj.class), obj.mode, obj.class)
obj.size <- napply(names, object.size)
obj.dim <- t(napply(names, function(x)
as.numeric(dim(x))[1:2]))
vec <- is.na(obj.dim)[, 1] & (obj.type != "function")
obj.dim[vec, 1] <- napply(names, length)[vec]
out <- data.frame(obj.type, obj.size, obj.dim)
names(out) <- c("Type", "Size", "Rows", "Columns")
if (!missing(order.by))
out <- out[order(out[[order.by]], decreasing=decreasing), ]
if (head)
out <- head(out, n)
out
}
# shorthand
lsos <- function(..., n=10) {
.ls.objects(..., order.by="Size", decreasing=TRUE, head=TRUE, n=n)
}
使用环境而不是列表来处理占用大量工作内存的对象集合。
原因是:每当列表结构的一个元素被修改时，整个列表都会被临时复制。如果列表的存储需求大约是可用工作内存的一半，这就会成为一个问题，因为这时必须将数据交换到慢速硬盘上。另一方面，环境不受这种行为的影响，它们可以类似于列表。
这里有一个例子:
get.data <- function(x)
{
# get some data based on x
return(paste("data from",x))
}
collect.data <- function(i,x,env)
{
# get some data
data <- get.data(x[[i]])
# store data into environment
element.name <- paste("V",i,sep="")
env[[element.name]] <- data
return(NULL)
}
better.list <- new.env()
filenames <- c("file1","file2","file3")
lapply(seq_along(filenames),collect.data,x=filenames,env=better.list)
# read/write access
print(better.list[["V1"]])
better.list[["V2"]] <- "testdata"
# number of list elements
length(ls(better.list))
结合结构，如大。矩阵或数据。表允许修改其内容的地方，非常有效的内存使用可以实现。
Tip for dealing with objects requiring heavy intermediate calculation: When using objects that require a lot of heavy calculation and intermediate steps to create, I often find it useful to write a chunk of code with the function to create the object, and then a separate chunk of code that gives me the option either to generate and save the object as an rmd file, or load it externally from an rmd file I have already previously saved. This is especially easy to do in R Markdown using the following code-chunk structure.
```{r Create OBJECT}
COMPLICATED.FUNCTION <- function(...) { Do heavy calculations needing lots of memory;
Output OBJECT; }
```
```{r Generate or load OBJECT}
LOAD <- TRUE
SAVE <- TRUE
#NOTE: Set LOAD to TRUE if you want to load saved file
#NOTE: Set LOAD to FALSE if you want to generate the object from scratch
#NOTE: Set SAVE to TRUE if you want to save the object externally
if(LOAD) {
OBJECT <- readRDS(file = 'MySavedObject.rds')
} else {
OBJECT <- COMPLICATED.FUNCTION(x, y, z)
if (SAVE) { saveRDS(file = 'MySavedObject.rds', object = OBJECT) } }
```
With this code structure, all I need to do is to change LOAD depending on whether I want to generate the object, or load it directly from an existing saved file. (Of course, I have to generate it and save it the first time, but after this I have the option of loading it.) Setting LOAD <- TRUE bypasses use of my complicated function and avoids all of the heavy computation therein. This method still requires enough memory to store the object of interest, but it saves you from having to calculate it each time you run your code. For objects that require a lot of heavy calculation of intermediate steps (e.g., for calculations involving loops over large arrays) this can save a substantial amount of time and computation.
