[ESS-bugs] Some code suggestions

[Jim_Garrett at bd.com]

   I have no bug report, but rather a modest code contribution or suggestion.
   Lately  I've  begun using Sweave heavily, and I've found it helpful to
   automate boilerplate generation for some things that recur frequently,
   namely:
    1. Generating a standard LaTeX preamble, etc.
    2. Creating a skeleton for a code chunk that creates a figure.
    3. Or a table (using xtable)
    4. Creating a skeleton for a code chunk that returns nothing.

   In essence, this saves me some typing, and also saves me from having to
   remember all the options available.  I'm sure one could complain that I
   should memorize all the options, but I think automating some frequently-used
   options can make Sweave more palatable to a non-expert user.  I'm on the way
   to requiring statisticians who report to me to use Sweave for all critical
   reports, so ease of use is an important issue to me!
   I've written some Emacs Lisp functions that do these.  Clearly they're very
   simple and would not take more than a minute for an experienced e-lisp
   programmer, so I guess I'm really suggesting that some functions along these
   lines be included (not necessarily mine).  They've helped me a great deal
   and would probably help others who are new to Sweave.
   Here are my functions, for your consideration.  Feel free to use them or
   not, modify them, rename them, whatever.
   1. To generate a template for a LaTeX file:
   (defun create-sweave-file ()
     "Insert contents of template file into buffer."
     (interactive nil)
     (insert-file-contents "~/.sweave-template.rnw"))
   where .sweave-template.rnw is
   \documentclass[english]{article}
   \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
   \usepackage[latin9]{inputenc}
   \usepackage{babel}
   \begin{document}
   \title{}
   \author{}
   \date{}
   \maketitle
   \end{document}
   2. To create a template for a code chunk that creates a figure:
   (defun insert-sweave-figure (label)
     "Insert standard figure stuff and R tags."
     (interactive "MEnter label: ")
     (insert
       (concat
   "\\begin{figure}
     \\begin{center}
   <<" label ", fig = T, echo = F>>=
   @
     \\end{center}
     \\caption{}
     \\label{fig:" label "}
   \\end{figure}")))
   3. To create a template for a code chunk creating a table, using xtable:
   (defun insert-sweave-table (label)
     "Insert code that creates a LaTeX table through the xtable function."
     (interactive "MEnter label: ")
     (insert
      (concat
       "<<"
       label
       ", echo = F, results = tex>>=
   require(xtable)
   print(xtable(,
   caption = \"\",
   label = \"tab:"
       label
       "\"),
   include.rownames = F)
   @")))
   4. To create a template for a code chunk that returns no output:
   (defun insert-sweave-code (label)
     "Insert code block that produces no output."
     (interactive "MEnter label: ")
     (insert
      (concat
       "<<"
       label
       ", echo = F, include = F>>=
   @")))
   I've just signed up for the ess-help e-mail list and I hope to contribute in
   the future.  My Lisp expertise is growing, slowly.
   Best regards,
   Jim Garrett
   Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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