Calling a Rcpp function from another Rcpp function while building an R package

Question

I took this example from a different question. I am building an R package with Rcpp. I have a function like fun1 (below) that I want to put into its own .cpp file. Then I want to call fun1 with other functions (like fun() does below). I want fun1 in a separate file because I am going to call it from several Rcpp functions that are in different .cpp files. Are there certain include statements and things I need to do to make the fun1 function accessible in the .cpp where fun() is located? Thank you.

library(inline)
library(Rcpp)
a = 1:10
cpp.fun = cxxfunction(signature(data1="numeric"), 
                  plugin="Rcpp",
                  body="
int fun1( int a1)
{int b1 = a1;
 b1 = b1*b1;
 return(b1);
}

NumericVector fun_data  = data1;
int n = data1.size();
for(i=0;i<n;i++){
fun_data[i] = fun1(fun_data[i]);
}
return(fun_data);
                           ")

So for my code I will have two .cpp files:

#include <Rcpp.h>
using namespace Rcpp;
// I think I need something here to make fun1.cpp available?

// [[Rcpp::export]]
Rcpp::NumericVector fun(Rcpp::NumericVector data1) 
{ 
    NumericVector fun_data  = data1;
    int n = data1.size();
    for(i=0;i<n;i++){
    fun_data[i] = fun1(fun_data[i]);
    }
    return(fun_data);
}

And a second .cpp file:

#include <Rcpp.h>
using namespace Rcpp;

// [[Rcpp::export]]
int fun1( int a1)
{int b1 = a1;
 b1 = b1*b1;
 return(b1);
}

This is really elementary use of C++ and has nothing to do with Rcpp. Learn to use a common header file which any decent C++ (or even C) book will cover. — Dirk Eddelbuettel, May 08 '14 at 13:36

score 18 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:19

Two possible solutions:

The 'quick-and-dirty', solution -- include the function declaration in the file where you use it:

#include <Rcpp.h>
using namespace Rcpp;

// declare fun1
int fun1(int a1);

// [[Rcpp::export]]
Rcpp::NumericVector fun(Rcpp::NumericVector data1) 
{ 
    NumericVector fun_data  = data1;
    int n = data1.size();
    for(i=0;i<n;i++){
    fun_data[i] = fun1(fun_data[i]);
    }
    return(fun_data);
}

The more robust solution: write header files that declare the functions, which can then be #include-ed in each file. So you might have a header file fun1.h in the same src directory:

#ifndef PKG_FOO1_H
#define PKG_FOO1_H

int foo(int);

#endif

which you could then use with something like:

#include <Rcpp.h>
#include "fun1.h"
using namespace Rcpp;

// [[Rcpp::export]]
Rcpp::NumericVector fun(Rcpp::NumericVector data1) 
{ 
    NumericVector fun_data  = data1;
    int n = data1.size();
    for(i=0;i<n;i++){
    fun_data[i] = fun1(fun_data[i]);
    }
    return(fun_data);
}

As you progress, you're going to need to learn more C++ programming skills, so I recommend checking out one of the books here; in particular, Accelerated C++ is a great introduction.

Thank you for the clear answer, this worked perfectly. Before this I did not know .h files worked with Rcpp or where to put them. I had one year of C++ courses, so much of the Rcpp documentation is still rather inaccessible. But Rcpp is amazing for MCMC. — user3583481, May 17 '14 at 02:48

Calling a Rcpp function from another Rcpp function while building an R package

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