Helper Objects

Generated from 'wiki-helper-objects.ts' on 2026-09-15, 21:18:21 UTC (v2.15.8, R v4.6.1), do not edit directly.

This page lists every important helper object of flowR.

• Normalized AST
• Dataflow graph
• Control flow graph
• Location
• Names and values
• Asking flowR
• Configuration and context
• Output
• Adding a helper object

Normalized AST

helper	what it is
RNode	Helper object to provide helper functions for RNodes.
RProject	Helper object to identify RProject nodes by their type and to provide related functions.

Dataflow graph

helper	what it is
CallGraph	Helper object for call-graphs, you can compute new call graphs based on CallGraph.compute.
ControlDependency	Utility functions to work with control dependencies.
Dataflow	This is the root helper object to work with the DataflowGraph.
DataflowInformation	Helper object for DataflowInformation.
DfEdge	Helper Functions to work with DfEdge and EdgeType.
DfgVertex	The one helper to ask a vertex what it is.
FunctionArgument	Helper functions to work with FunctionArguments.
GraphHelper	The underlying functions which work for any graph* like view.
UnknownSideEffect	Helpers for the UnknownSideEffect union, which is either a plain NodeId or a { id, linkTo } object.

Control flow graph

helper	what it is
CfgEdge	Helper object for CfgEdge - an edge in the ControlFlowGraph.
CfgVertex	Helper object for CfgVertex - a vertex in the ControlFlowGraph.
ControlFlow	Records the control flow of a program in the DataflowGraph while the dataflow analysis walks it.

Location

helper	what it is
NodeId	What a NodeId is: the identity of a node within one analysis, plus the built-in and pkg::fn names encoded as one, and the ways to read a name back out of it.
Playground	Everything about flowR's playground that is not the page itself: what a link to it carries, and how one is written.
RPath	Paths as R spells them on every OS, with forward slashes throughout.
SlicingCriterion	The helper object for slicing criteria: parsing, validating and resolving them, one (SlicingCriterion.parse) or several (SlicingCriterion.decodeAll) at a time.
SourceLocation	Utility functions for source locations.
SourceRange	Utility functions for source ranges.

Names and values

helper	what it is
Identifier	Helper functions to work with identifiers.
RNumberValue	What an RNumberValue is: R's number as it was written, its integer marker (1L) and its complex flag (1i) included.
RRange	Helpers for R package version ranges (DESCRIPTION constraints like >= 0.4-9).
RStringValue	Checks whether the given string is an R string literal (including raw strings).
RValue	Reads the plain TS value a Value stands for, undefined whenever it stands for more than one, for none, or for another kind.
RVersion	Helpers for R package versions (1.2-3 style), which are freer than SemVer.
TernaryLogic	Always, never, or maybe, which is what a static answer about a running program usually is.

Asking flowR

helper	what it is
ClosureRefs	The open references a function definition still carries into its closure.
FlowrSearchGenerator	This object holds all the methods to generate search queries.
FunctionSemantics	The one helper to ask what a function does: what it makes of its arguments, what it may raise, which formals it forces, and what it declares as a class.
HappensBeforeKey	How an answer of the HappensBeforeQuery is keyed: the two criteria it was asked about, so that both the executor writing an answer and anyone reading one spell the key the same way.
LintingResults	Helper functions for working with LintingResults.
LintQuickFix	Helper for working with quick fixes.
NodeValue	The value(s) a node may hold.
Query	Running queries and reading what they reported, without Object.entries and the casts it forces.
QueryFunctionFilter	Resolves the function filter shared by the inspection queries (inspect-*).
REnvironment	Helpers for navigating and manipulating environments around the global environment and attached-package search path.
Resolve	The helper object for resolution: from a name to the definitions it may refer to, and from a node to the value(s) it may hold.

Configuration and context

helper	what it is
DescriptionFile	Access to the DESCRIPTION file of the analyzed project.
FlowrConfig	flowR's configuration: its default, reading one from disk, and getting or setting a single value at a dotted path (an EngineConfigPath included).

Output

helper	what it is
DataflowMermaid	The helper object for all things regarding the mermaid based visualization of dataflow graphs!
Mermaid	Global mermaid helper object with useful functions.
Record	Helper for transforming records.
ReplClipboard	Output that the user most likely wants on their clipboard as well.

Adding a helper object

Give the doc comment of the object an @helper <category> tag. The category is one of ast, dataflow, control-flow, location, values, api, project, output. The table shows the first sentence of the doc comment itself; write @helper <category> <what it is> only when the table should say something else.