Should `summary()` report infinite outbreaks as max?

[sbfnk]

Perhaps just me but I find this a bit confusing. Should the Max not be Inf?

library("epichains")

set.seed(1)
chains_pois_offspring <- simulate_chains(
  index_cases = 3,
  statistic = "size",
  offspring_dist = rpois,
  stat_max = 10,
  lambda = 1
)
chains_pois_offspring |>
summary()
#> `epichains_summary` object 
#> 
#> [1]   1 Inf   2
#> 
#>  Simulated tree sizes: 
#> 
#> Max: 2
#> Min: 1

^{Created on 2024-03-26 with reprex v2.1.0}

[jamesmbaazam]

Thanks. I think the initial idea was to report the max here as max(finite_values) since they are "observed". This is because the observation process doesn't know what Inf means except that it's a value >= `stat_max? Speaking out loud, it could be Inf with some text to explain that Infs are values above stat_max, which have been censored?

[sbfnk]

Perhaps report it as >=10 if stat_max is 10 etc.?

[jamesmbaazam]

That's a solution but it would make the values a string 😬 .

[sbfnk]

But the max/min aren't returned (only printed), or are they?

[jamesmbaazam]

The values are gotten from summary() and then formatted for printing. The nice thing about keeping the parameters as attributes is that we can let summary return Inf if it's the max, and in the formatting step, replace Inf with >=stat_max.

[sbfnk]

Yep that sounds like a great solution.