Extending R with C++ code by using Rcpp typically involves function calls by leveraging the existing .Call() interface of the R API. Passing values back and forth is then done in manner similar to programming with functions.

However, on occassion it is useful to access enviroments (such as the global environment). We can also pass environments (which are first-class datatypes for R) around to instantiate the Rcpp class Environment.

Here we illustrating how to access values from the global environment.

First, let us set some values:

someNumber <<- 42
stooges <<- c("moe", "larry", "curly")

We can access these values in a C++ function setup with Rcpp:

#include <Rcpp.h>

using namespace Rcpp;

// [[Rcpp::export]]
int checkEnv() {
    // access the global env.
    Environment env = Environment::global_env();
    CharacterVector v = env["stooges"];
    Rcout << "Stooge Nb 2 is: " << v[1] << std::endl;
    return env["someNumber"];
}

Running the example yields:

checkEnv()


Stooge Nb 2 is: larry


[1] 42