The help for the cygwin port of R is buggy and hides random lines of text. Consquently, I've been relying on Google, but it is often not clear how directly relevant the info is for the specific command that I'm using. For example, reshape is complicated, and has more than 1 version. Is there an online version of the help pages? I tried looking for html versions of the help pages by ferruting through the R.home() subtree. Haven't found them so far. There are package pages in subdirectories <package>/html/00Index.html, but they just contain links to html files that don't reside in my R.home() subtree. There are also subdirectories <package>/help, but they contain pages that I don't recognize (*.rds, *.rdb, *.rdx). Getting desparate here, and realizing how the web is not in any way a substituted for locally available help pages that you can be confident is right for your installation.
Need online version of R help pages
11 messages · Collin Lynch, Duncan Murdoch, Michael Dewey +3 more
Hi Paul a quick search popped up these: http://astrostatistics.psu.edu/datasets/R/html/index.html http://finzi.psych.upenn.edu/ http://r.789695.n4.nabble.com/Online-R-documentation-td1009656.html Are they what you are looking for? Collin.
On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 5:02 PM, paul <paul.domaskis at gmail.com> wrote:
The help for the cygwin port of R is buggy and hides random lines of text. Consquently, I've been relying on Google, but it is often not clear how directly relevant the info is for the specific command that I'm using. For example, reshape is complicated, and has more than 1 version. Is there an online version of the help pages? I tried looking for html versions of the help pages by ferruting through the R.home() subtree. Haven't found them so far. There are package pages in subdirectories <package>/html/00Index.html, but they just contain links to html files that don't reside in my R.home() subtree. There are also subdirectories <package>/help, but they contain pages that I don't recognize (*.rds, *.rdb, *.rdx). Getting desparate here, and realizing how the web is not in any way a substituted for locally available help pages that you can be confident is right for your installation.
______________________________________________ R-help at r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 3:22 PM, Collin Lynch <cflynch at ncsu.edu> wrote:
Hi Paul a quick search popped up these: http://astrostatistics.psu.edu/datasets/R/html/index.html http://finzi.psych.upenn.edu/ http://r.789695.n4.nabble.com/Online-R-documentation-td1009656.html Are they what you are looking for? Collin.
I was looking for a site where I could simply punch in the command and get the "man" page without navigating & searching. But I found a way around my problem with the help in Cygwin's R port. In ~/.Rprofile, I have: options(browser="cygstart") options(help_type="html")
On 16/04/2015 5:02 PM, paul wrote:
The help for the cygwin port of R is buggy and hides random lines of text.
You've already been told not to use the Cygwin port. It's buggy in the help pages, and probably in many other respects as well. It doesn't pass the R self-tests. Don't use it. Duncan Murdoch Consquently, I've been relying on Google, but it is often not
clear how directly relevant the info is for the specific command that I'm using. For example, reshape is complicated, and has more than 1 version. Is there an online version of the help pages? I tried looking for html versions of the help pages by ferruting through the R.home() subtree. Haven't found them so far. There are package pages in subdirectories <package>/html/00Index.html, but they just contain links to html files that don't reside in my R.home() subtree. There are also subdirectories <package>/help, but they contain pages that I don't recognize (*.rds, *.rdb, *.rdx). Getting desparate here, and realizing how the web is not in any way a substituted for locally available help pages that you can be confident is right for your installation.
______________________________________________ R-help at r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
With all due respect, Duncan, I can't find the message advising against using the Cygwin port. I did find a message about the mishandling of line endings, and I've asked on the cygwin forum (as advised). As I mentioned, I'm in an environment where updates are not possible, and I'm clarifying now that this means installations are even more impossible, at least not without extensive adminstrative delay. Basically, this is what I have to work with. If anyone can suggest good ideas for the challenges as-is, that would be much appreciated. However, given your posts, I fully understand if the answer is "no". On the other hand, simply demanding a solution consisting of a course of action which is impossible at present...well, it's just impossible. Having said that, I'll just say that I've managed to exort the powers that be to install a Windows based version of R, but I have to work with what I currently have for at least a week. I should also mention that I've submitted an update to the mailing list on a workaround for the R help problem on cygwin. It might not have propagated to recipients yet. I appreciate the further info on the extent of the bugginess of the cygwin port. On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 9:04 PM, Duncan Murdoch
<murdoch.duncan at gmail.com> wrote:
On 16/04/2015 5:02 PM, paul wrote:
The help for the cygwin port of R is buggy and hides random lines of text.
You've already been told not to use the Cygwin port. It's buggy in the help pages, and probably in many other respects as well. It doesn't pass the R self-tests. Don't use it.
Consquently, I've been relying on Google, but it is often not clear how directly relevant the info is for the specific command that I'm using. For example, reshape is complicated, and has more than 1 version. Is there an online version of the help pages? I tried looking for html versions of the help pages by ferruting through the R.home() subtree. Haven't found them so far. There are package pages in subdirectories <package>/html/00Index.html, but they just contain links to html files that don't reside in my R.home() subtree. There are also subdirectories <package>/help, but they contain pages that I don't recognize (*.rds, *.rdb, *.rdx). Getting desparate here, and realizing how the web is not in any way a substituted for locally available help pages that you can be confident is right for your installation.
I am not sure how helpful this is going to be but Appendix C7 in the Installation and Administration manual is pretty bleak about your prospects with Cygwin.
On 18/04/2015 02:17, Paul Domaskis wrote:
With all due respect, Duncan, I can't find the message advising against using the Cygwin port. I did find a message about the mishandling of line endings, and I've asked on the cygwin forum (as advised). As I mentioned, I'm in an environment where updates are not possible, and I'm clarifying now that this means installations are even more impossible, at least not without extensive adminstrative delay. Basically, this is what I have to work with. If anyone can suggest good ideas for the challenges as-is, that would be much appreciated. However, given your posts, I fully understand if the answer is "no". On the other hand, simply demanding a solution consisting of a course of action which is impossible at present...well, it's just impossible. Having said that, I'll just say that I've managed to exort the powers that be to install a Windows based version of R, but I have to work with what I currently have for at least a week. I should also mention that I've submitted an update to the mailing list on a workaround for the R help problem on cygwin. It might not have propagated to recipients yet. I appreciate the further info on the extent of the bugginess of the cygwin port. On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 9:04 PM, Duncan Murdoch <murdoch.duncan at gmail.com> wrote:
On 16/04/2015 5:02 PM, paul wrote:
The help for the cygwin port of R is buggy and hides random lines of text.
You've already been told not to use the Cygwin port. It's buggy in the help pages, and probably in many other respects as well. It doesn't pass the R self-tests. Don't use it.
Consquently, I've been relying on Google, but it is often not clear how directly relevant the info is for the specific command that I'm using. For example, reshape is complicated, and has more than 1 version. Is there an online version of the help pages? I tried looking for html versions of the help pages by ferruting through the R.home() subtree. Haven't found them so far. There are package pages in subdirectories <package>/html/00Index.html, but they just contain links to html files that don't reside in my R.home() subtree. There are also subdirectories <package>/help, but they contain pages that I don't recognize (*.rds, *.rdb, *.rdx). Getting desparate here, and realizing how the web is not in any way a substituted for locally available help pages that you can be confident is right for your installation.
______________________________________________ R-help at r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
2 days later
Acknowledged, Michael. I appreciate the pointer to the info. For at least a short while, however, this is my only access to R, so I am using this environment to ramp up on times series and R as much a possible. I think it should suffice for that purpose, and the real analysis can occur in a more reliable installation R. I've managed to work the ropes on a better installation, but the solution won't be immediate. Michael Dewey <lists <at> dewey.myzen.co.uk> writes: | I am not sure how helpful this is going to be but Appendix C7 in the | Installation and Administration manual is pretty bleak about your | prospects with Cygwin. |
|On 18/04/2015 02:17, Paul Domaskis wrote:
|> With all due respect, Duncan, I can't find the message advising |> against using the Cygwin port. I did find a message about the |> mishandling of line endings, and I've asked on the cygwin forum (as |> advised). |> |> As I mentioned, I'm in an environment where updates are not |> possible, and I'm clarifying now that this means installations are |> even more impossible, at least not without extensive adminstrative |> delay. Basically, this is what I have to work with. If anyone can |> suggest good ideas for the challenges as-is, that would be much |> appreciated. However, given your posts, I fully understand if the |> answer is "no". On the other hand, simply demanding a solution |> consisting of a course of action which is impossible at |> present...well, it's just impossible. Having said that, I'll just |> say that I've managed to exort the powers that be to install a |> Windows based version of R, but I have to work with what I |> currently have for at least a week. I should also mention that |> I've submitted an update to the mailing list on a workaround for |> the R help problem on cygwin. It might not have propagated to |> recipients yet. |> |> I appreciate the further info on the extent of the bugginess of the |> cygwin port. |> |> On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 9:04 PM, Duncan Murdoch
|><murdoch.duncan <at> gmail.com> wrote:
|>>On 16/04/2015 5:02 PM, paul wrote:
|>>> The help for the cygwin port of R is buggy and hides random lines |>>> of text. |>> |>> You've already been told not to use the Cygwin port. It's buggy |>> in the help pages, and probably in many other respects as well. |>> It doesn't pass the R self-tests. Don't use it. |>> |>>> Consquently, I've been relying on Google, but it is often not |>>> clear how directly relevant the info is for the specific |>>> command that I'm using. For example, reshape is complicated, |>>> and has more than 1 version. |>>> |>>> Is there an online version of the help pages? |>>> |>>> I tried looking for html versions of the help pages by ferruting |>>> through the R.home() subtree. Haven't found them so far. There |>>> are package pages in subdirectories <package>/html/00Index.html, |>>> but they just contain links to html files that don't reside in my |>>> R.home() subtree. There are also subdirectories <package>/help, |>>> but they contain pages that I don't recognize (*.rds, *.rdb, |>>> *.rdx). |>>> |>>> Getting desparate here, and realizing how the web is not in any |>>> way a substituted for locally available help pages that you can |>>> be confident is right for your installation.
On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 9:43 AM, Paul <Paul.Domaskis at gmail.com> wrote:
Acknowledged, Michael. I appreciate the pointer to the info. For at least a short while, however, this is my only access to R, so I am using this environment to ramp up on times series and R as much a possible. I think it should suffice for that purpose, and the real analysis can occur in a more reliable installation R. I've managed to work the ropes on a better installation, but the solution won't be immediate.
?I am not really familiar with the site referenced below. But maybe it would be helpful to you? It allows you to edit and run R code through a browser on the _their_ site. It appears to be absolutely free. And has other languages available as well. http://www.tutorialspoint.com/execute_r_online.php ?
If you sent twitter messages while exploring, are you on a textpedition? He's about as useful as a wax frying pan. 10 to the 12th power microphones = 1 Megaphone Maranatha! <>< John McKown [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
John McKown <john.archie.mckown <at> gmail.com> writes:
On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 9:43 AM, Paul <Paul.Domaskis <at> gmail.com> wrote: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/execute_r_online.php
John, I appreciate the pointer. I wish the post quoted below had made it to the mailing list, as I could have saved you the trouble of trying to seek a solution on my behalf. I'm quite happy using vim and in fact consider it to be my right hand (even though I don't dive under the hood much). So this post was really about getting around the broken cygwin help facility for R rather than editing. Also, at work, we have to keep the work on-site. For those unfortunate enough to have no option but to use cygwin's R, here is the posting re. a workaround to the broken help facility, posted via nabble (which probably explains why it didn't make it to the mailing list):
Sent: April-16-15 5:51 PM Subject: Re: Need online version of R help pages I was able to get the help info for many of the commands from the link for "The R Reference Index" at http://cran.r-project.org/manuals.html. However, I found that I could also get help from the R prompt via help(myHelpTopic,help_type="html") To make that work, I needed options(browser="cygstart") in ~/.Rprofile. Very puzzling to a non-web-developer like myself: The URL for the help content is (for example) http://127.0.0.1:16086/library/stats/html/reshape.html. This is a loop-back address. I did *not* see any file named reshape.html in subdirectory library/stats/html/reshape.html when I went to R.home(). I thought that perhaps the file was being composed on the fly. However, I was under the distinct impression that my account did not have the ability to set up servers (and I assume that the page that is composed on the fly must be served out by a server).
I don't want to rub it in more, but whatever dark forces are upon you, they'd have a hard time preventing you from installing R to your user account, which requires minimal privileges(*). Just wanted to make sure you're aware of your options /Henrik (*) The R Windows installer detects and adjusts for this automatically. The only things I can think of that prevents this approach is that the computer is completely disconnected from the world, users have extremely limited disk space, the user account is wiped at every login, ... what else? Also, AFAIK, the only thing you miss out on is that R won't be added to the Windows Registry meaning .RData files are not associated with R, but that's a very low price to pay considered it's a better option than Cygwin.
On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 8:24 AM, Paul <Paul.Domaskis at gmail.com> wrote:
John McKown <john.archie.mckown <at> gmail.com> writes:
On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 9:43 AM, Paul <Paul.Domaskis <at> gmail.com> wrote: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/execute_r_online.php
John, I appreciate the pointer. I wish the post quoted below had made it to the mailing list, as I could have saved you the trouble of trying to seek a solution on my behalf. I'm quite happy using vim and in fact consider it to be my right hand (even though I don't dive under the hood much). So this post was really about getting around the broken cygwin help facility for R rather than editing. Also, at work, we have to keep the work on-site. For those unfortunate enough to have no option but to use cygwin's R, here is the posting re. a workaround to the broken help facility, posted via nabble (which probably explains why it didn't make it to the mailing list):
Sent: April-16-15 5:51 PM Subject: Re: Need online version of R help pages I was able to get the help info for many of the commands from the link for "The R Reference Index" at http://cran.r-project.org/manuals.html. However, I found that I could also get help from the R prompt via help(myHelpTopic,help_type="html") To make that work, I needed options(browser="cygstart") in ~/.Rprofile. Very puzzling to a non-web-developer like myself: The URL for the help content is (for example) http://127.0.0.1:16086/library/stats/html/reshape.html. This is a loop-back address. I did *not* see any file named reshape.html in subdirectory library/stats/html/reshape.html when I went to R.home(). I thought that perhaps the file was being composed on the fly. However, I was under the distinct impression that my account did not have the ability to set up servers (and I assume that the page that is composed on the fly must be served out by a server).
______________________________________________ R-help at r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
Henrik Bengtsson <henrik.bengtsson <at> ucsf.edu> writes:
I don't want to rub it in more, but whatever dark forces are upon you, they'd have a hard time preventing you from installing R to your user account, which requires minimal privileges(*). Just wanted to make sure you're aware of your options /Henrik (*) The R Windows installer detects and adjusts for this automatically. The only things I can think of that prevents this approach is that the computer is completely disconnected from the world, users have extremely limited disk space, the user account is wiped at every login, ... what else? Also, AFAIK, the only thing you miss out on is that R won't be added to the Windows Registry meaning .RData files are not associated with R, but that's a very low price to pay considered it's a better option than Cygwin.
It's simply not allowed. However, as I said, this is being worked out. It is *very* useful to know that when things work out, it *can* be installed as non-administrator. That would be infinitely less headache. Thanks.