diff --git a/R-package/DESCRIPTION b/R-package/DESCRIPTION
index b03bc56d5298..ded208356c61 100755
--- a/R-package/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/R-package/DESCRIPTION
@@ -58,4 +58,4 @@ Imports:
     utils
 SystemRequirements:
     C++11
-RoxygenNote: 7.1.1
+RoxygenNote: 7.1.2
diff --git a/R-package/NAMESPACE b/R-package/NAMESPACE
index b356ba927177..8df060d28605 100644
--- a/R-package/NAMESPACE
+++ b/R-package/NAMESPACE
@@ -3,10 +3,13 @@
 S3method("dimnames<-",lgb.Dataset)
 S3method(dim,lgb.Dataset)
 S3method(dimnames,lgb.Dataset)
+S3method(get_field,lgb.Dataset)
 S3method(getinfo,lgb.Dataset)
 S3method(predict,lgb.Booster)
+S3method(set_field,lgb.Dataset)
 S3method(setinfo,lgb.Dataset)
 S3method(slice,lgb.Dataset)
+export(get_field)
 export(getinfo)
 export(lgb.Dataset)
 export(lgb.Dataset.construct)
@@ -30,6 +33,7 @@ export(lgb.unloader)
 export(lightgbm)
 export(readRDS.lgb.Booster)
 export(saveRDS.lgb.Booster)
+export(set_field)
 export(setinfo)
 export(slice)
 import(methods)
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.Dataset.R b/R-package/R/lgb.Dataset.R
index 429eb1f91275..91f729188a1f 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.Dataset.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.Dataset.R
@@ -335,14 +335,17 @@ Dataset <- R6::R6Class(
         for (i in seq_along(private$info)) {
 
           p <- private$info[i]
-          self$setinfo(name = names(p), info = p[[1L]])
+          self$set_field(
+            field_name = names(p)
+            , data = p[[1L]]
+          )
 
         }
 
       }
 
       # Get label information existence
-      if (is.null(self$getinfo(name = "label"))) {
+      if (is.null(self$get_field(field_name = "label"))) {
         stop("lgb.Dataset.construct: label should be set")
       }
 
@@ -452,19 +455,33 @@ Dataset <- R6::R6Class(
 
     },
 
-    # Get information
     getinfo = function(name) {
+      warning(paste0(
+        "Dataset$getinfo() is deprecated and will be removed in a future release. "
+        , "Use Dataset$get_field() instead."
+      ))
+      return(
+        self$get_field(
+          field_name = name
+        )
+      )
+    },
+
+    get_field = function(field_name) {
 
       # Check if attribute key is in the known attribute list
-      if (!is.character(name) || length(name) != 1L || !name %in% .INFO_KEYS()) {
-        stop("getinfo: name must one of the following: ", paste0(sQuote(.INFO_KEYS()), collapse = ", "))
+      if (!is.character(field_name) || length(field_name) != 1L || !field_name %in% .INFO_KEYS()) {
+        stop(
+          "Dataset$get_field(): field_name must one of the following: "
+          , paste0(sQuote(.INFO_KEYS()), collapse = ", ")
+        )
       }
 
       # Check for info name and handle
-      if (is.null(private$info[[name]])) {
+      if (is.null(private$info[[field_name]])) {
 
         if (lgb.is.null.handle(x = private$handle)) {
-          stop("Cannot perform getinfo before constructing Dataset.")
+          stop("Cannot perform Dataset$get_field() before constructing Dataset.")
         }
 
         # Get field size of info
@@ -472,7 +489,7 @@ Dataset <- R6::R6Class(
         .Call(
           LGBM_DatasetGetFieldSize_R
           , private$handle
-          , name
+          , field_name
           , info_len
         )
 
@@ -481,7 +498,7 @@ Dataset <- R6::R6Class(
 
           # Get back fields
           ret <- NULL
-          ret <- if (name == "group") {
+          ret <- if (field_name == "group") {
             integer(info_len) # Integer
           } else {
             numeric(info_len) # Numeric
@@ -490,47 +507,62 @@ Dataset <- R6::R6Class(
           .Call(
             LGBM_DatasetGetField_R
             , private$handle
-            , name
+            , field_name
             , ret
           )
 
-          private$info[[name]] <- ret
+          private$info[[field_name]] <- ret
 
         }
       }
 
-      return(private$info[[name]])
+      return(private$info[[field_name]])
 
     },
 
-    # Set information
     setinfo = function(name, info) {
+      warning(paste0(
+        "Dataset$setinfo() is deprecated and will be removed in a future release. "
+        , "Use Dataset$set_field() instead."
+      ))
+      return(
+        self$set_field(
+          field_name = name
+          , data = info
+        )
+      )
+    },
+
+    set_field = function(field_name, data) {
 
       # Check if attribute key is in the known attribute list
-      if (!is.character(name) || length(name) != 1L || !name %in% .INFO_KEYS()) {
-        stop("setinfo: name must one of the following: ", paste0(sQuote(.INFO_KEYS()), collapse = ", "))
+      if (!is.character(field_name) || length(field_name) != 1L || !field_name %in% .INFO_KEYS()) {
+        stop(
+          "Dataset$set_field(): field_name must one of the following: "
+          , paste0(sQuote(.INFO_KEYS()), collapse = ", ")
+        )
       }
 
       # Check for type of information
-      info <- if (name == "group") {
-        as.integer(info) # Integer
+      data <- if (field_name == "group") {
+        as.integer(data) # Integer
       } else {
-        as.numeric(info) # Numeric
+        as.numeric(data) # Numeric
       }
 
       # Store information privately
-      private$info[[name]] <- info
+      private$info[[field_name]] <- data
 
-      if (!lgb.is.null.handle(x = private$handle) && !is.null(info)) {
+      if (!lgb.is.null.handle(x = private$handle) && !is.null(data)) {
 
-        if (length(info) > 0L) {
+        if (length(data) > 0L) {
 
           .Call(
             LGBM_DatasetSetField_R
             , private$handle
-            , name
-            , info
-            , length(info)
+            , field_name
+            , data
+            , length(data)
           )
 
           private$version <- private$version + 1L
@@ -554,7 +586,7 @@ Dataset <- R6::R6Class(
           , paste(names(additional_keyword_args), collapse = ", ")
           , ". These are ignored and should be removed. "
           , "To change the parameters of a Dataset produced by Dataset$slice(), use Dataset$set_params(). "
-          , "To modify attributes like 'init_score', use Dataset$setinfo(). "
+          , "To modify attributes like 'init_score', use Dataset$set_field(). "
           , "In future releases of lightgbm, this warning will become an error."
         ))
       }
@@ -1110,7 +1142,7 @@ dimnames.lgb.Dataset <- function(x) {
 #'
 #' dsub <- lightgbm::slice(dtrain, seq_len(42L))
 #' lgb.Dataset.construct(dsub)
-#' labels <- lightgbm::getinfo(dsub, "label")
+#' labels <- lightgbm::get_field(dsub, "label")
 #' }
 #' @export
 slice <- function(dataset, ...) {
@@ -1173,6 +1205,8 @@ getinfo <- function(dataset, ...) {
 #' @export
 getinfo.lgb.Dataset <- function(dataset, name, ...) {
 
+  warning("Calling getinfo() on a lgb.Dataset is deprecated. Use get_field() instead.")
+
   additional_args <- list(...)
   if (length(additional_args) > 0L) {
     warning(paste0(
@@ -1187,7 +1221,7 @@ getinfo.lgb.Dataset <- function(dataset, name, ...) {
     stop("getinfo.lgb.Dataset: input dataset should be an lgb.Dataset object")
   }
 
-  return(dataset$getinfo(name = name))
+  return(dataset$get_field(field_name = name))
 
 }
 
@@ -1236,6 +1270,8 @@ setinfo <- function(dataset, ...) {
 #' @export
 setinfo.lgb.Dataset <- function(dataset, name, info, ...) {
 
+  warning("Calling setinfo() on a lgb.Dataset is deprecated. Use set_field() instead.")
+
   additional_args <- list(...)
   if (length(additional_args) > 0L) {
     warning(paste0(
@@ -1250,7 +1286,102 @@ setinfo.lgb.Dataset <- function(dataset, name, info, ...) {
     stop("setinfo.lgb.Dataset: input dataset should be an lgb.Dataset object")
   }
 
-  return(invisible(dataset$setinfo(name = name, info = info)))
+  return(invisible(dataset$set_field(field_name = name, data = info)))
+}
+
+#' @name get_field
+#' @title Get one attribute of a \code{lgb.Dataset}
+#' @description Get one attribute of a \code{lgb.Dataset}
+#' @param dataset Object of class \code{lgb.Dataset}
+#' @param field_name String with the name of the attribute to get. One of the following.
+#' \itemize{
+#'     \item \code{label}: label lightgbm learns from ;
+#'     \item \code{weight}: to do a weight rescale ;
+#'     \item{\code{group}: used for learning-to-rank tasks. An integer vector describing how to
+#'         group rows together as ordered results from the same set of candidate results to be ranked.
+#'         For example, if you have a 100-document dataset with \code{group = c(10, 20, 40, 10, 10, 10)},
+#'         that means that you have 6 groups, where the first 10 records are in the first group,
+#'         records 11-30 are in the second group, etc.}
+#'     \item \code{init_score}: initial score is the base prediction lightgbm will boost from.
+#' }
+#' @return requested attribute
+#'
+#' @examples
+#' \donttest{
+#' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
+#' train <- agaricus.train
+#' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
+#' lgb.Dataset.construct(dtrain)
+#'
+#' labels <- lightgbm::get_field(dtrain, "label")
+#' lightgbm::set_field(dtrain, "label", 1 - labels)
+#'
+#' labels2 <- lightgbm::get_field(dtrain, "label")
+#' stopifnot(all(labels2 == 1 - labels))
+#' }
+#' @export
+get_field <- function(dataset, field_name) {
+  UseMethod("get_field")
+}
+
+#' @rdname get_field
+#' @export
+get_field.lgb.Dataset <- function(dataset, field_name) {
+
+  # Check if dataset is not a dataset
+  if (!lgb.is.Dataset(x = dataset)) {
+    stop("get_field.lgb.Dataset(): input dataset should be an lgb.Dataset object")
+  }
+
+  return(dataset$get_field(field_name = field_name))
+
+}
+
+#' @name set_field
+#' @title Set one attribute of a \code{lgb.Dataset} object
+#' @description Set one attribute of a \code{lgb.Dataset}
+#' @param dataset Object of class \code{lgb.Dataset}
+#' @param field_name String with the name of the attribute to set. One of the following.
+#' \itemize{
+#'     \item \code{label}: label lightgbm learns from ;
+#'     \item \code{weight}: to do a weight rescale ;
+#'     \item{\code{group}: used for learning-to-rank tasks. An integer vector describing how to
+#'         group rows together as ordered results from the same set of candidate results to be ranked.
+#'         For example, if you have a 100-document dataset with \code{group = c(10, 20, 40, 10, 10, 10)},
+#'         that means that you have 6 groups, where the first 10 records are in the first group,
+#'         records 11-30 are in the second group, etc.}
+#'     \item \code{init_score}: initial score is the base prediction lightgbm will boost from.
+#' }
+#' @param data The data for the field. See examples.
+#' @return The \code{lgb.Dataset} you passed in.
+#'
+#' @examples
+#' \donttest{
+#' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
+#' train <- agaricus.train
+#' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
+#' lgb.Dataset.construct(dtrain)
+#'
+#' labels <- lightgbm::get_field(dtrain, "label")
+#' lightgbm::set_field(dtrain, "label", 1 - labels)
+#'
+#' labels2 <- lightgbm::get_field(dtrain, "label")
+#' stopifnot(all.equal(labels2, 1 - labels))
+#' }
+#' @export
+set_field <- function(dataset, field_name, data) {
+  UseMethod("set_field")
+}
+
+#' @rdname set_field
+#' @export
+set_field.lgb.Dataset <- function(dataset, field_name, data) {
+
+  if (!lgb.is.Dataset(x = dataset)) {
+    stop("set_field.lgb.Dataset: input dataset should be an lgb.Dataset object")
+  }
+
+  return(invisible(dataset$set_field(field_name = field_name, data = data)))
 }
 
 #' @name lgb.Dataset.set.categorical
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.cv.R b/R-package/R/lgb.cv.R
index 81890a6a90c7..039411e4cf40 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.cv.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.cv.R
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ lgb.cv <- function(params = list()
   )
 
   if (!is.null(weight)) {
-    data$setinfo(name = "weight", info = weight)
+    data$set_field(field_name = "weight", data = weight)
   }
 
   # Update parameters with parsed parameters
@@ -245,8 +245,8 @@ lgb.cv <- function(params = list()
       nfold = nfold
       , nrows = nrow(data)
       , stratified = stratified
-      , label = getinfo(dataset = data, name = "label")
-      , group = getinfo(dataset = data, name = "group")
+      , label = get_field(dataset = data, field_name = "label")
+      , group = get_field(dataset = data, field_name = "group")
       , params = params
     )
 
@@ -320,8 +320,8 @@ lgb.cv <- function(params = list()
       if (folds_have_group) {
         test_indices <- folds[[k]]$fold
         test_group_indices <- folds[[k]]$group
-        test_groups <- getinfo(dataset = data, name = "group")[test_group_indices]
-        train_groups <- getinfo(dataset = data, name = "group")[-test_group_indices]
+        test_groups <- get_field(dataset = data, field_name = "group")[test_group_indices]
+        train_groups <- get_field(dataset = data, field_name = "group")[-test_group_indices]
       } else {
         test_indices <- folds[[k]]
       }
@@ -330,28 +330,28 @@ lgb.cv <- function(params = list()
       # set up test set
       indexDT <- data.table::data.table(
         indices = test_indices
-        , weight = getinfo(dataset = data, name = "weight")[test_indices]
-        , init_score = getinfo(dataset = data, name = "init_score")[test_indices]
+        , weight = get_field(dataset = data, field_name = "weight")[test_indices]
+        , init_score = get_field(dataset = data, field_name = "init_score")[test_indices]
       )
       data.table::setorderv(x = indexDT, cols = "indices", order = 1L)
       dtest <- slice(data, indexDT$indices)
-      setinfo(dataset = dtest, name = "weight", info = indexDT$weight)
-      setinfo(dataset = dtest, name = "init_score", info = indexDT$init_score)
+      set_field(dataset = dtest, field_name = "weight", data = indexDT$weight)
+      set_field(dataset = dtest, field_name = "init_score", data = indexDT$init_score)
 
       # set up training set
       indexDT <- data.table::data.table(
         indices = train_indices
-        , weight = getinfo(dataset = data, name = "weight")[train_indices]
-        , init_score = getinfo(dataset = data, name = "init_score")[train_indices]
+        , weight = get_field(dataset = data, field_name = "weight")[train_indices]
+        , init_score = get_field(dataset = data, field_name = "init_score")[train_indices]
       )
       data.table::setorderv(x = indexDT, cols = "indices", order = 1L)
       dtrain <- slice(data, indexDT$indices)
-      setinfo(dataset = dtrain, name = "weight", info = indexDT$weight)
-      setinfo(dataset = dtrain, name = "init_score", info = indexDT$init_score)
+      set_field(dataset = dtrain, field_name = "weight", data = indexDT$weight)
+      set_field(dataset = dtrain, field_name = "init_score", data = indexDT$init_score)
 
       if (folds_have_group) {
-        setinfo(dataset = dtest, name = "group", info = test_groups)
-        setinfo(dataset = dtrain, name = "group", info = train_groups)
+        set_field(dataset = dtest, field_name = "group", data = test_groups)
+        set_field(dataset = dtrain, field_name = "group", data = train_groups)
       }
 
       booster <- Booster$new(params = params, train_set = dtrain)
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.interprete.R b/R-package/R/lgb.interprete.R
index 940613d21225..70aac8760485 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.interprete.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.interprete.R
@@ -21,7 +21,11 @@
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
-#' setinfo(dtrain, "init_score", rep(Logit(mean(train$label)), length(train$label)))
+#' set_field(
+#'   dataset = dtrain
+#'   , field_name = "init_score"
+#'   , data = rep(Logit(mean(train$label)), length(train$label))
+#' )
 #' data(agaricus.test, package = "lightgbm")
 #' test <- agaricus.test
 #'
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.plot.interpretation.R b/R-package/R/lgb.plot.interpretation.R
index 1bc2fa0f9582..aa3cbae05625 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.plot.interpretation.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.plot.interpretation.R
@@ -25,7 +25,11 @@
 #'   agaricus.train$data
 #'   , label = labels
 #' )
-#' setinfo(dtrain, "init_score", rep(Logit(mean(labels)), length(labels)))
+#' set_field(
+#'   dataset = dtrain
+#'   , field_name = "init_score"
+#'   , data = rep(Logit(mean(labels)), length(labels))
+#' )
 #'
 #' data(agaricus.test, package = "lightgbm")
 #'
diff --git a/R-package/demo/basic_walkthrough.R b/R-package/demo/basic_walkthrough.R
index 3dc672e11d73..b5bfed26d935 100644
--- a/R-package/demo/basic_walkthrough.R
+++ b/R-package/demo/basic_walkthrough.R
@@ -147,8 +147,8 @@ bst <- lgb.train(
     , valids = valids
 )
 
-# information can be extracted from lgb.Dataset using getinfo
-label <- getinfo(dtest, "label")
+# information can be extracted from lgb.Dataset using get_field()
+label <- get_field(dtest, "label")
 pred <- predict(bst, test$data)
 err <- as.numeric(sum(as.integer(pred > 0.5) != label)) / length(label)
 print(paste("test-error=", err))
diff --git a/R-package/demo/boost_from_prediction.R b/R-package/demo/boost_from_prediction.R
index 457561cd5f70..b6b3f1ceba7b 100644
--- a/R-package/demo/boost_from_prediction.R
+++ b/R-package/demo/boost_from_prediction.R
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ ptest  <- predict(bst, agaricus.test$data, rawscore = TRUE)
 
 # set the init_score property of dtrain and dtest
 # base margin is the base prediction we will boost from
-setinfo(dtrain, "init_score", ptrain)
-setinfo(dtest, "init_score", ptest)
+set_field(dtrain, "init_score", ptrain)
+set_field(dtest, "init_score", ptest)
 
 print("This is result of boost from initial prediction")
 bst <- lgb.train(
diff --git a/R-package/demo/cross_validation.R b/R-package/demo/cross_validation.R
index f685b520822d..0324f83f2da9 100644
--- a/R-package/demo/cross_validation.R
+++ b/R-package/demo/cross_validation.R
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ lgb.cv(
 print("Running cross validation, with cutomsized loss function")
 
 logregobj <- function(preds, dtrain) {
-  labels <- getinfo(dtrain, "label")
+  labels <- get_field(dtrain, "label")
   preds <- 1.0 / (1.0 + exp(-preds))
   grad <- preds - labels
   hess <- preds * (1.0 - preds)
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ logregobj <- function(preds, dtrain) {
 # For example, we are doing logistic loss, the prediction is score before logistic transformation
 # Keep this in mind when you use the customization, and maybe you need write customized evaluation function
 evalerror <- function(preds, dtrain) {
-  labels <- getinfo(dtrain, "label")
+  labels <- get_field(dtrain, "label")
   preds <- 1.0 / (1.0 + exp(-preds))
   err <- as.numeric(sum(labels != (preds > 0.5))) / length(labels)
   return(list(name = "error", value = err, higher_better = FALSE))
diff --git a/R-package/demo/early_stopping.R b/R-package/demo/early_stopping.R
index fa8abce38b08..5179195f02ad 100644
--- a/R-package/demo/early_stopping.R
+++ b/R-package/demo/early_stopping.R
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ num_round <- 20L
 # User define objective function, given prediction, return gradient and second order gradient
 # This is loglikelihood loss
 logregobj <- function(preds, dtrain) {
-  labels <- getinfo(dtrain, "label")
+  labels <- get_field(dtrain, "label")
   preds <- 1.0 / (1.0 + exp(-preds))
   grad <- preds - labels
   hess <- preds * (1.0 - preds)
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ logregobj <- function(preds, dtrain) {
 # The built-in evaluation error assumes input is after logistic transformation
 # Keep this in mind when you use the customization, and maybe you need write customized evaluation function
 evalerror <- function(preds, dtrain) {
-  labels <- getinfo(dtrain, "label")
+  labels <- get_field(dtrain, "label")
   err <- as.numeric(sum(labels != (preds > 0.5))) / length(labels)
   return(list(name = "error", value = err, higher_better = FALSE))
 }
diff --git a/R-package/demo/multiclass_custom_objective.R b/R-package/demo/multiclass_custom_objective.R
index 70d5c6ce3f90..a1e8edc958aa 100644
--- a/R-package/demo/multiclass_custom_objective.R
+++ b/R-package/demo/multiclass_custom_objective.R
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ probs_builtin <- exp(preds_builtin) / rowSums(exp(preds_builtin))
 
 # User defined objective function, given prediction, return gradient and second order gradient
 custom_multiclass_obj <- function(preds, dtrain) {
-    labels <- getinfo(dtrain, "label")
+    labels <- get_field(dtrain, "label")
 
     # preds is a matrix with rows corresponding to samples and columns corresponding to choices
     preds <- matrix(preds, nrow = length(labels))
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ custom_multiclass_obj <- function(preds, dtrain) {
 
 # define custom metric
 custom_multiclass_metric <- function(preds, dtrain) {
-    labels <- getinfo(dtrain, "label")
+    labels <- get_field(dtrain, "label")
     preds <- matrix(preds, nrow = length(labels))
     preds <- preds - apply(preds, 1L, max)
     prob <- exp(preds) / rowSums(exp(preds))
diff --git a/R-package/man/get_field.Rd b/R-package/man/get_field.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1b6692fcf807
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R-package/man/get_field.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/lgb.Dataset.R
+\name{get_field}
+\alias{get_field}
+\alias{get_field.lgb.Dataset}
+\title{Get one attribute of a \code{lgb.Dataset}}
+\usage{
+get_field(dataset, field_name)
+
+\method{get_field}{lgb.Dataset}(dataset, field_name)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{dataset}{Object of class \code{lgb.Dataset}}
+
+\item{field_name}{String with the name of the attribute to get. One of the following.
+\itemize{
+    \item \code{label}: label lightgbm learns from ;
+    \item \code{weight}: to do a weight rescale ;
+    \item{\code{group}: used for learning-to-rank tasks. An integer vector describing how to
+        group rows together as ordered results from the same set of candidate results to be ranked.
+        For example, if you have a 100-document dataset with \code{group = c(10, 20, 40, 10, 10, 10)},
+        that means that you have 6 groups, where the first 10 records are in the first group,
+        records 11-30 are in the second group, etc.}
+    \item \code{init_score}: initial score is the base prediction lightgbm will boost from.
+}}
+}
+\value{
+requested attribute
+}
+\description{
+Get one attribute of a \code{lgb.Dataset}
+}
+\examples{
+\donttest{
+data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
+train <- agaricus.train
+dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
+lgb.Dataset.construct(dtrain)
+
+labels <- lightgbm::get_field(dtrain, "label")
+lightgbm::set_field(dtrain, "label", 1 - labels)
+
+labels2 <- lightgbm::get_field(dtrain, "label")
+stopifnot(all(labels2 == 1 - labels))
+}
+}
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.interprete.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.interprete.Rd
index c1905282623d..6431a5011f48 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.interprete.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.interprete.Rd
@@ -34,7 +34,11 @@ Logit <- function(x) log(x / (1.0 - x))
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
-setinfo(dtrain, "init_score", rep(Logit(mean(train$label)), length(train$label)))
+set_field(
+  dataset = dtrain
+  , field_name = "init_score"
+  , data = rep(Logit(mean(train$label)), length(train$label))
+)
 data(agaricus.test, package = "lightgbm")
 test <- agaricus.test
 
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.plot.interpretation.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.plot.interpretation.Rd
index f8266308552d..2d7416561f23 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.plot.interpretation.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.plot.interpretation.Rd
@@ -44,7 +44,11 @@ dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(
   agaricus.train$data
   , label = labels
 )
-setinfo(dtrain, "init_score", rep(Logit(mean(labels)), length(labels)))
+set_field(
+  dataset = dtrain
+  , field_name = "init_score"
+  , data = rep(Logit(mean(labels)), length(labels))
+)
 
 data(agaricus.test, package = "lightgbm")
 
diff --git a/R-package/man/set_field.Rd b/R-package/man/set_field.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f9901e27eefd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R-package/man/set_field.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/lgb.Dataset.R
+\name{set_field}
+\alias{set_field}
+\alias{set_field.lgb.Dataset}
+\title{Set one attribute of a \code{lgb.Dataset} object}
+\usage{
+set_field(dataset, field_name, data)
+
+\method{set_field}{lgb.Dataset}(dataset, field_name, data)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{dataset}{Object of class \code{lgb.Dataset}}
+
+\item{field_name}{String with the name of the attribute to set. One of the following.
+\itemize{
+    \item \code{label}: label lightgbm learns from ;
+    \item \code{weight}: to do a weight rescale ;
+    \item{\code{group}: used for learning-to-rank tasks. An integer vector describing how to
+        group rows together as ordered results from the same set of candidate results to be ranked.
+        For example, if you have a 100-document dataset with \code{group = c(10, 20, 40, 10, 10, 10)},
+        that means that you have 6 groups, where the first 10 records are in the first group,
+        records 11-30 are in the second group, etc.}
+    \item \code{init_score}: initial score is the base prediction lightgbm will boost from.
+}}
+
+\item{data}{The data for the field. See examples.}
+}
+\value{
+The \code{lgb.Dataset} you passed in.
+}
+\description{
+Set one attribute of a \code{lgb.Dataset}
+}
+\examples{
+\donttest{
+data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
+train <- agaricus.train
+dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
+lgb.Dataset.construct(dtrain)
+
+labels <- lightgbm::get_field(dtrain, "label")
+lightgbm::set_field(dtrain, "label", 1 - labels)
+
+labels2 <- lightgbm::get_field(dtrain, "label")
+stopifnot(all.equal(labels2, 1 - labels))
+}
+}
diff --git a/R-package/man/slice.Rd b/R-package/man/slice.Rd
index 0e2c73108a93..988987f80b2d 100644
--- a/R-package/man/slice.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/slice.Rd
@@ -31,6 +31,6 @@ dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
 
 dsub <- lightgbm::slice(dtrain, seq_len(42L))
 lgb.Dataset.construct(dsub)
-labels <- lightgbm::getinfo(dsub, "label")
+labels <- lightgbm::get_field(dsub, "label")
 }
 }
diff --git a/R-package/pkgdown/_pkgdown.yml b/R-package/pkgdown/_pkgdown.yml
index 60ed132dd1ab..c1e591475892 100644
--- a/R-package/pkgdown/_pkgdown.yml
+++ b/R-package/pkgdown/_pkgdown.yml
@@ -56,8 +56,8 @@ reference:
     contents:
     - '`dim.lgb.Dataset`'
     - '`dimnames.lgb.Dataset`'
-    - '`getinfo`'
-    - '`setinfo`'
+    - '`get_field`'
+    - '`set_field`'
     - '`slice`'
     - '`lgb.Dataset`'
     - '`lgb.Dataset.construct`'
diff --git a/R-package/tests/testthat/test_custom_objective.R b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_custom_objective.R
index f3224e9ebf0e..54f5c300907a 100644
--- a/R-package/tests/testthat/test_custom_objective.R
+++ b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_custom_objective.R
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ watchlist <- list(eval = dtest, train = dtrain)
 TOLERANCE <- 1e-6
 
 logregobj <- function(preds, dtrain) {
-  labels <- getinfo(dtrain, "label")
+  labels <- get_field(dtrain, "label")
   preds <- 1.0 / (1.0 + exp(-preds))
   grad <- preds - labels
   hess <- preds * (1.0 - preds)
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ logregobj <- function(preds, dtrain) {
 # This may make built-in evalution metric calculate wrong results
 # Keep this in mind when you use the customization, and maybe you need write customized evaluation function
 evalerror <- function(preds, dtrain) {
-  labels <- getinfo(dtrain, "label")
+  labels <- get_field(dtrain, "label")
   preds <- 1.0 / (1.0 + exp(-preds))
   err <- as.numeric(sum(labels != (preds > 0.5))) / length(labels)
   return(list(
diff --git a/R-package/tests/testthat/test_dataset.R b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_dataset.R
index 04ca2e3d1cd3..ffcb99b35520 100644
--- a/R-package/tests/testthat/test_dataset.R
+++ b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_dataset.R
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ test_that("lgb.Dataset: basic construction, saving, loading", {
   # from dense matrix
   dtest2 <- lgb.Dataset(as.matrix(test_data), label = test_label)
   expect_equal(getinfo(dtest1, "label"), getinfo(dtest2, "label"))
+  expect_equal(get_field(dtest1, "label"), get_field(dtest2, "label"))
 
   # save to a local file
   tmp_file <- tempfile("lgb.Dataset_")
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@ test_that("lgb.Dataset: basic construction, saving, loading", {
   lgb.Dataset.construct(dtest3)
   unlink(tmp_file)
   expect_equal(getinfo(dtest1, "label"), getinfo(dtest3, "label"))
+  expect_equal(get_field(dtest1, "label"), get_field(dtest3, "label"))
 })
 
 test_that("lgb.Dataset: getinfo & setinfo", {
@@ -40,6 +42,21 @@ test_that("lgb.Dataset: getinfo & setinfo", {
   expect_error(setinfo(dtest, "asdf", test_label))
 })
 
+test_that("lgb.Dataset: get_field & set_field", {
+  dtest <- lgb.Dataset(test_data)
+  dtest$construct()
+
+  set_field(dtest, "label", test_label)
+  labels <- get_field(dtest, "label")
+  expect_equal(test_label, get_field(dtest, "label"))
+
+  expect_true(length(get_field(dtest, "weight")) == 0L)
+  expect_true(length(get_field(dtest, "init_score")) == 0L)
+
+  # any other label should error
+  expect_error(set_field(dtest, "asdf", test_label))
+})
+
 test_that("lgb.Dataset: slice, dim", {
   dtest <- lgb.Dataset(test_data, label = test_label)
   lgb.Dataset.construct(dtest)
@@ -255,6 +272,19 @@ test_that("lgb.Dataset$setinfo() should convert 'group' to integer", {
   expect_identical(ds$getinfo("group"), as.integer(group_as_numeric))
 })
 
+test_that("lgb.Dataset$set_field() should convert 'group' to integer", {
+  ds <- lgb.Dataset(
+    data = matrix(rnorm(100L), nrow = 50L, ncol = 2L)
+    , label = sample(c(0L, 1L), size = 50L, replace = TRUE)
+  )
+  ds$construct()
+  current_group <- ds$get_field("group")
+  expect_null(current_group)
+  group_as_numeric <- rep(25.0, 2L)
+  ds$set_field("group", group_as_numeric)
+  expect_identical(ds$get_field("group"), as.integer(group_as_numeric))
+})
+
 test_that("lgb.Dataset should throw an error if 'reference' is provided but of the wrong format", {
   data(agaricus.test, package = "lightgbm")
   test_data <- agaricus.test$data[1L:100L, ]
diff --git a/R-package/tests/testthat/test_lgb.interprete.R b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_lgb.interprete.R
index bf113db43b97..86a968c7c7ed 100644
--- a/R-package/tests/testthat/test_lgb.interprete.R
+++ b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_lgb.interprete.R
@@ -11,10 +11,10 @@ test_that("lgb.intereprete works as expected for binary classification", {
     data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
     train <- agaricus.train
     dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
-    setinfo(
+    set_field(
         dataset = dtrain
-        , "init_score"
-        , rep(
+        , field_name = "init_score"
+        , data = rep(
             .logit(mean(train$label))
             , length(train$label)
         )
diff --git a/R-package/tests/testthat/test_lgb.plot.interpretation.R b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_lgb.plot.interpretation.R
index be51e2fc965e..374de2231f23 100644
--- a/R-package/tests/testthat/test_lgb.plot.interpretation.R
+++ b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_lgb.plot.interpretation.R
@@ -11,10 +11,10 @@ test_that("lgb.plot.interepretation works as expected for binary classification"
     data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
     train <- agaricus.train
     dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
-    setinfo(
+    set_field(
         dataset = dtrain
-        , "init_score"
-        , rep(
+        , field_name = "init_score"
+        , data = rep(
             .logit(mean(train$label))
             , length(train$label)
         )