---
title: "User defined ts-functions"
output: rmarkdown::html_vignette
vignette: >
  %\VignetteIndexEntry{User defined ts-functions}
  %\VignetteEngine{knitr::rmarkdown}
  %\VignetteEncoding{UTF-8}
---


## Writing ts-functions

It is straightforward to turn existing functions into functions that can deal
with any ts-boxable object.

The `ts_` function is a constructor function for tsbox time series functions. It
can be used to wrap any function that works with time series. The default is set
to R base `"ts"` class, so wrapping functions for `"ts"` time series (or vectors
or matrices) is as simple as:

```r
ts_rowsums <- ts_(rowSums)
ts_rowsums(ts_c(mdeaths, fdeaths))

```
Note that `ts_` returns a function, which can be with or without a name. Let' have a closer look at how `ts_rowsums` looks like:

```r
ts_rowsums
#> function (x, ...)
#> {
#>     stopifnot(ts_boxable(x))
#>     z <- rowSums(ts_ts(x), ...)
#>     copy_class(z, x)
#> }

```

This is how most ts-functions work. They use a specific converter function
(here: `ts_ts`) to convert a ts-boxable object to the desired class. They then
perform the main operation on the object (here: `rowSums`). Finally they convert
the result back to the original class, using `copy_class`.

The resulting function has a `...` argument. You can use it to pass
arguments to the underlying functions. E.g.,

```r
ts_rowsums(ts_c(mdeaths, fdeaths), na.rm = TRUE)
```


## Functions from external packages

Here is a slightly more complex example, which uses a post processing function:

```r
ts_prcomp <- ts_(function(x) predict(prcomp(x, scale = TRUE)))
ts_prcomp(ts_c(mdeaths, fdeaths))
```

It is easy to make functions from external packages ts-boxable, by wrapping them
into `ts_`.

```r
ts_dygraphs <- ts_(dygraphs::dygraph, class = "xts")
ts_forecast <- ts_(function(x, ...) forecast::forecast(x, ...)$mean, vectorize = TRUE)
ts_seas <- ts_(function(x, ...) seasonal::final(seasonal::seas(x, ...)), vectorize = TRUE)

ts_dygraphs(ts_c(mdeaths, EuStockMarkets))
ts_forecast(ts_c(mdeaths, fdeaths))
ts_seas(ts_c(mdeaths, fdeaths))
```

If you are explicit about the namespace (e.g., `dygraphs::dygraph`),
`ts_` recognized the package in use and delivers a meaningful message if the
package is not installed.

Note that the `ts_` function deals with the conversion stuff, 'vectorizes' the
function so that it can be used with multiple time series.

Let' have another look at `ts_forecast`:

```r
ts_forecast
#> function (x, ...)
#> {
#>     load_suggested("forecast")
#>     ff <- function(x, ...) {
#>         stopifnot(ts_boxable(x))
#>         z <- (function(x, ...) forecast::forecast(ts_na_omit(x),
#>             ...)$mean)(ts_ts(x), ...)
#>         copy_class(z, x)
#>     }
#>     ts_apply(x, ff, ...)
#> }
```

There three differences to the `ts_rowsum` example: First, the function requires
the forecast package. If it is not installed, `load_suggested` will ask the user
to do so. Second, the function in use is an anonymous function, `function(x)
forecast::forecast(x, ...)$mean`, that also extracts the `$mean` component from
the result. Third, the function is 'vectorized', using `ts_apply`. This causes
the process to be repeated for each time series in the object.