\name{nlmer}
\title{Fitting Nonlinear Mixed-Effects Models}
\alias{nlmer}
\concept{NLMM}
\description{
  Fit a nonlinear mixed-effects model (NLMM) to data, via maximum
  likelihood.
}
\usage{
nlmer(formula, data = NULL, control = nlmerControl(),
      start = NULL, verbose = 0L, nAGQ = 1L, subset, weights, na.action,
      offset, contrasts = NULL, devFunOnly = FALSE)
}
\arguments{
  \item{formula}{a three-part \dQuote{nonlinear mixed model} formula, of
    the form \code{resp ~ Nonlin(...) ~ fixed + random}, where the third
    part is similar to the RHS formula of, e.g., \code{\link{lmer}}.
    %% (see detailed documentation) FIXME!  where would that be?
    Currently, the \code{Nonlin(..)} formula part must not only return a
    numeric vector, but also must have a \code{"gradient"} attribute, a
    \code{\link{matrix}}.  The functions \code{\link{SSbiexp}},
    \code{\link{SSlogis}}, etc, see \code{\link{selfStart}}, provide
    this (and more).  Alternatively, you can use \code{\link{deriv}()}
    to automatically produce such functions or expressions.}
  \item{data}{an optional data frame containing the variables named in
    \code{formula}.  By default the variables are taken from the
    environment from which \code{lmer} is called.  While \code{data} is
    optional, the package authors \emph{strongly} recommend its use,
    especially when later applying methods such as \code{\link{update}}
    and \code{\link{drop1}} to the fitted model (\emph{such methods are
    not guaranteed to work properly if \code{data} is omitted}).  If
    \code{data} is omitted, variables will be taken from the environment
    of \code{formula} (if specified as a formula) or from the parent
    frame (if specified as a character vector).}
  \item{control}{a list (of correct class, resulting from
    \code{\link{lmerControl}()} or \code{\link{glmerControl}()}
    respectively) containing control parameters, including the nonlinear
    optimizer to be used and parameters to be passed through to the
    nonlinear optimizer, see the \code{*lmerControl} documentation for
    details.}
  \item{start}{starting estimates for the nonlinear model parameters, as
    a named numeric vector or as a list with components
    \describe{
      \item{nlpars}{required numeric vector of starting values for the
	nonlinear model parameters}
      \item{theta}{optional numeric vector of starting values for the
	covariance parameters}
    }
  }
  \item{verbose}{integer scalar.  If \code{> 0} verbose output is
    generated during the optimization of the parameter estimates.  If
    \code{> 1} verbose output is generated during the individual PIRLS steps
    (PIRLS aka PRSS, e.g. in the C++ sources).}
  \item{nAGQ}{integer scalar - the number of points per axis for
    evaluating the adaptive Gauss-Hermite approximation to the
    log-likelihood.  Defaults to 1, corresponding to the Laplace
    approximation.  Values greater than 1 produce greater accuracy in
    the evaluation of the log-likelihood at the expense of speed.  A
    value of zero uses a faster but less exact form of parameter
    estimation for GLMMs by optimizing the random effects and the
    fixed-effects coefficients in the penalized iteratively reweighted
    least squares (PIRLS) step.}

  \item{subset}{an optional expression indicating the subset of the rows
    of \code{data} that should be used in the fit.  This can be a
    logical vector, or a numeric vector indicating which observation
    numbers are to be included, or a character vector of the row names
    to be included.  All observations are included by default.}
  \item{weights}{an optional vector of \sQuote{prior weights} to be used
    in the fitting process.  Should be \code{NULL} or a numeric vector.}
  \item{na.action}{a function that indicates what should happen when the
    data contain \code{NA}s.  The default action (\code{na.omit},
    inherited from the \sQuote{factory fresh} value of
    \code{\link{getOption}("na.action")}) strips any observations with
    any missing values in any variables.}
  \item{offset}{this can be used to specify an \emph{a priori} known
    component to be included in the linear predictor during fitting.
    This should be \code{NULL} or a numeric vector of length equal to
    the number of cases.  One or more \code{\link{offset}} terms can be
    included in the formula instead or as well, and if more than one is
    specified their sum is used.  See \code{\link{model.offset}}.}
  \item{contrasts}{an optional \code{\link{list}}.  See the
    \code{contrasts.arg} of \code{\link{model.matrix.default}}.}

  \item{devFunOnly}{logical - return only the deviance evaluation
    function.  Note that because the deviance function operates on
    variables stored in its environment, it may not return
    \emph{exactly} the same values on subsequent calls (but the results
    should always be within machine tolerance).}
}
\details{
  Fit nonlinear mixed-effects models, such as those used in
  population pharmacokinetics.
}
\note{
  Adaptive Gauss-Hermite quadrature (\code{nAGQ > 1}) is not
  currently implemented for \code{nlmer}.  Several other
  methods, such as simulation or prediction with new data,
  are unimplemented or very lightly tested.

  A \code{method} argument was used in earlier versions of the \pkg{lme4}
  package.  Its functionality has been replaced by the \code{nAGQ} argument.
}
\examples{
## nonlinear mixed models --- 3-part formulas ---
## 1. basic nonlinear fit. Use stats::SSlogis for its
## implementation of the 3-parameter logistic curve.
## "SS" stands for "self-starting logistic", but the
## "self-starting" part is not currently used by nlmer ... 'start' is
## necessary
startvec <- c(Asym = 200, xmid = 725, scal = 350)
(nm1 <- nlmer(circumference ~ SSlogis(age, Asym, xmid, scal) ~ Asym|Tree,
             Orange, start = startvec))
## 2. re-run with "quick and dirty" PIRLS step
(nm1a <- update(nm1, nAGQ = 0L))

## 3. Fit the same model with a user-built function:
## a. Define formula
nform <- ~Asym/(1+exp((xmid-input)/scal))
## b. Use deriv() to construct function:
nfun <- deriv(nform,namevec=c("Asym","xmid","scal"),
              function.arg=c("input","Asym","xmid","scal"))
nm1b <- update(nm1,circumference ~ nfun(age, Asym, xmid, scal)  ~ Asym | Tree)

## 4. User-built function without using derivs():
##    derivatives could be computed more efficiently
##    by pre-computing components, but these are essentially
##    the gradients as one would derive them by hand
nfun2 <- function(input, Asym, xmid, scal) {
    value <- Asym/(1+exp((xmid-input)/scal))
    grad <- cbind(Asym=1/(1+exp((xmid-input)/scal)),
              xmid=-Asym/(1+exp((xmid-input)/scal))^2*1/scal*
                    exp((xmid-input)/scal),
              scal=-Asym/(1+exp((xmid-input)/scal))^2*
                     -(xmid-input)/scal^2*exp((xmid-input)/scal))
    attr(value,"gradient") <- grad
    value
}
stopifnot(all.equal(attr(nfun(2,1,3,4),"gradient"),
                    attr(nfun(2,1,3,4),"gradient")))
nm1c <- update(nm1,circumference ~ nfun2(age, Asym, xmid, scal)  ~ Asym | Tree)
}
\keyword{models}

