R: Maxima and Minima

Extremes {base} | R Documentation

## Maxima and Minima

### Description

Returns the (parallel) maxima and minima of the input values.

### Usage

    max(..., na.rm = FALSE)
    min(..., na.rm = FALSE)

    pmax(..., na.rm = FALSE)
    pmin(..., na.rm = FALSE)

    pmax.int(..., na.rm = FALSE)
    pmin.int(..., na.rm = FALSE)

### Arguments

`...` | numeric or character arguments (see Note).
`na.rm` | a logical indicating whether missing values should be removed.

### Details

`max` and `min` return the maximum or minimum of all the values present in their arguments, as `integer` if all are `logical` or `integer`, as `double` if all are numeric, and character otherwise.

If `na.rm` is `FALSE` an `NA` value in any of the arguments will cause a value of `NA` to be returned, otherwise `NA` values are ignored.

The minimum and maximum of a numeric empty set are `+Inf` and `-Inf` (in this order!) which ensures transitivity, e.g., `min(x1, min(x2)) == min(x1, x2)`. For numeric `x` `max(x) == -Inf` and `min(x) == +Inf` whenever `length(x) == 0` (after removing missing values if requested). However, `pmax` and `pmin` return `NA` if all the parallel elements are `NA` even for `na.rm = TRUE`.

`pmax` and `pmin` take one or more vectors (or matrices) as arguments and return a single vector giving the ‘parallel’ maxima (or minima) of the vectors. The first element of the result is the maximum (minimum) of the first elements of all the arguments, the second element of the result is the maximum (minimum) of the second elements of all the arguments and so on. Shorter inputs (of non-zero length) are recycled if necessary. Attributes (see `attributes`: such as `names` or `dim`) are copied from the first argument (if applicable).

`pmax.int` and `pmin.int` are faster internal versions only used when all arguments are atomic vectors and there are no classes: they drop all attributes. (Note that all versions fail for raw and complex vectors since these have no ordering.)

`max` and `min` are generic functions: methods can be defined for them individually or via the `Summary` group generic. For this to work properly, the arguments `...` should be unnamed, and dispatch is on the first argument.

By definition the min/max of a numeric vector containing an `NaN` is `NaN`, except that the min/max of any vector containing an `NA` is `NA` even if it also contains an `NaN`. Note that `max(NA, Inf) == NA` even though the maximum would be `Inf` whatever the missing value actually is.

Character versions are sorted lexicographically, and this depends on the collating sequence of the locale in use: the help for ‘Comparison’ gives details. The max/min of an empty character vector is defined to be character `NA`. (One could argue that as `""` is the smallest character element, the maximum should be `""`, but there is no obvious candidate for the minimum.)

### Value

For `min` or `max`, a length-one vector. For `pmin` or `pmax`, a vector of length the longest of the input vectors, or length zero if one of the inputs had zero length.

The type of the result will be that of the highest of the inputs in the hierarchy integer < double < character.

For `min` and `max` if there are only numeric inputs and all are empty (after possible removal of `NA`s), the result is double (`Inf` or `-Inf`).

### S4 methods

`max` and `min` are part of the S4 `Summary` group generic. Methods for them must use the signature `x, ..., na.rm`.

### Note

‘Numeric’ arguments are vectors of type integer and numeric, and logical (coerced to integer). For historical reasons, `NULL` is accepted as equivalent to `integer(0)`.

`pmax` and `pmin` will also work on classed objects with appropriate methods for comparison, `is.na` and `rep` (if recycling of arguments is needed).

### References

Becker, R. A., Chambers, J. M. and Wilks, A. R. (1988) The New S Language. Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole.

### See Also

`range` (both min and max) and `which.min` (`which.max`) for the arg min, i.e., the location where an extreme value occurs.

‘plotmath’ for the use of `min` in plot annotation.

### Examples

    require(stats); require(graphics)
     min(5:1, pi) #-> one number
    pmin(5:1, pi) #->  5  numbers

    x <- sort(rnorm(100));  cH <- 1.35
    pmin(cH, quantile(x)) # no names
    pmin(quantile(x), cH) # has names
    plot(x, pmin(cH, pmax(-cH, x)), type = "b", main =  "Huber's function")

    cut01 <- function(x) pmax(pmin(x, 1), 0)
    curve(      x^2 - 1/4, -1.4, 1.5, col = 2)
    curve(cut01(x^2 - 1/4), col = "blue", add = TRUE, n = 500)
    ## pmax(), pmin() preserve attributes of *first* argument
    D <- diag(x = (3:1)/4) ; n0 <- numeric()
    stopifnot(identical(D,  cut01(D) ),
              identical(n0, cut01(n0)),
              identical(n0, cut01(NULL)),
              identical(n0, pmax(3:1, n0, 2)),
              identical(n0, pmax(n0, 4)))

[Package base version 3.1.2 Index]