R-2.8.0 : get platform device with get(getOption("device"))
On Thu, 8 May 2008, Peter Dalgaard wrote:
Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
Here is the NEWS item, for 2.5.0
o options(device = ) now accepts a function object as well as
the name of a function.
The construct in the subject line has been broken ever since.
Yet the change produced no warnings when made, so apparently everyone else missed it!
OK, but that entry was obviously hard to spot even when looking for it!
On Thu, 8 May 2008, Peter Dalgaard wrote:
Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
Please do study the posting guide. This was covered recently: https://stat.ethz.ch/pipermail/r-devel/2008-April/049319.html
Nevertheless, perhaps an explicit NEWS entry could be warranted,
something like
o The "device" option can now be a function, and is one in some
standard setups. Consequentially, get(getOption("device")) will fail;
programmers should usually use dev.new() instead.
So...
o The "device" option now is a function in some standard setups.
Consequentially, get(getOption("device")) will fail; programmers should
usually use dev.new() instead. (Assuming that the device is a character
string has been incorrect since 2.5.0.)
Prof Brian Ripley noted [in another recent message] that it was also wrong to assume ANY arguments for dev.new method. If we are only concerned with interactive screen devices (i.e., x11, windows, quartz), would it be safe to come up with a method that can take basic dimension arguments (width & height)? Suggestions for an R-Core approved method of doing so? We use this functionality every day for creating multiple onscreen windows with specified dimensions. While I understand things have to change to evolve the codebase, this change broke the code supporting countless papers and analyses here in our department, without warning until now. ---------------------------------------------------------- SIGSIG -- signature too long (core dumped)