Message-ID: <57606014-442B-4B72-8A40-EA2A2D4D9638@r-project.org>
Date: 2014-07-02T14:06:23Z
From: Simon Urbanek
Subject: Embedded R, event loops, GUI events, and OS X
In-Reply-To: <F899EF27-BC15-44A5-A08C-7298823915E3@bak.io>
Mi?tek,
On Jul 2, 2014, at 1:43 PM, Mi?tek Bak <mietek at bak.io> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I?m helping with the development of an R-to-Haskell interoperability solution, called H. The project allows Haskell functions to seamlessly call R functions and vice versa, making use of an embedded R interpreter. H is developed in-house by Tweag I/O, and is soon to be open-sourced.
>
> The project is stable on Linux and Windows, and I?m focussing on an OS X port. Basic functionality is ready, but I?m having trouble with the GUI parts. Specifically, any graph window, e.g. the one expected for `plot(cars)`, appears blank and unresponsive when triggered from H.
>
> I think the issue lies between the H loop, the R event loop, and the Cocoa event loop. So far, I?ve pored over ?Writing R Extensions? (chapter 8, ?Linking GUIs and other front-ends to R?), the R 3.1.0 sources, (`./src/library/grDevices/src/qdCocoa.m`), and the R.app 1.6.4 sources (`./RController.m`, `./REngine/RCallbacks.m`, `./REngine/RInit.m`, and `./REngine/REngine.m`). I?ve also found interesting notes in the R.app `./ReadMe.txt`, but unfortunately, they no longer seem to be in sync with the code.
>
> As I?ve seemingly hit a wall, I?m looking for advice. Are any of the developers of the OS X port of R subscribed to this list?
>
Yes.
In general, the trick is to make sure that you setup the R event loop. That is an extra step after initializing the embedded R. There is nothing special about the OS X port in that regard - as long as you run the R event loop all is well. It becomes more tricky if the app you use wants to use its own event loop - that can cause issues as you have to make sure the two loops mesh properly.
For more specific help you'll need to ask more specific questions - possibly with link to reproducible code.
Cheers,
Simon
> Thanks, and kind regards,
>
> --
> Mi?tek Bak
>
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