R-alpha: compatibility functions

Paul Gilbert pgilbert@bank-banque-canada.ca
Tue, 4 Nov 1997 15:27:08 -0500


Below is a revised copy of my compatibility functions with additions
from Martin. I expect I may need a new version  when 0.6 arrives but I
thought it would be worth circulating this in case it suggests anything
which might be resolved before the release of 0.6 rather than after.

Thanks to a few people for pointing out the R function machine(). I have
a kludge below for determining the same information in S. If anyone has
a better way to do this I would appreciate it.

There are also several functions where the non-unix versions have not
been defined. Suggestions would be appreciated.

Paul Gilbert

##############################################################################



# This file has code which contains operating system and S/R specific
#   functions. They are intended to be used as a kernel to help
#   protect other code from these problems.

# The following functions are attempted:
#   For S/R differences:
#      global.assign, system.info, exists.graphics.device, unlink,
#      synchronize,  list.add for [["new.element"]]<-
#   For OS differences:
#     system.call, sleep, present.working.directory, whoami, file.copy,
#     file.date.info, date, mail, unlink, local.host.netname,

# Also a number of is.xxx functions are defined to identify systems.

# The variable  .SPAWN is also set to be used to identify if Splus "For"
loops
#    should be used. (It is sometimes better not to use these even in
Splus.)

##############################################################################

#            General Logic and organization of these functions

# 1/ The first group of functions are for identifying S or R and
flavours.
# 2/ The second group of functions are for identifying the operating
system.
# 3/ The third group specify a few functions which depend only on the
#         differences between S and R.
# 4/ The fourth group specify functions which depend only on the
#         differences among operating system.
# 5/ The fifth group specify a few functions which depend on both R/S
and the
#         differences among operating system.

#  >>> I would very much like any input WRT  MS Windows / Win95 / NT /
Mac <<<

# The function system.call is defined in order to provide a generic way
to
#  make a call to the operating system. However, when the calls are
specific
#  to Unix then the function unix() is used.


##############################################################################

system.info <- function()
     {if( !exists("version"))
         { #-- `Vanilla' S (i.e. here "S version 4")
           #- this now works for  S version 4  (this is not S-plus 4.0,
maybe
           #             part of S-plus 5.0 !):
           lv <- nchar(Sv <- Sversion())
           r <- list(
       major = substring(Sv, 1,1),
       minor = substring(Sv, lv,lv))
         }
   else
     {r <- version
      r$minor <- as.numeric(r$minor)
      r$major <- as.numeric(r$major)
     }
   if      (is.Splus())    r$language <- "Splus"
   else if (is.Svanilla()) r$language <- "S"
   r$OSversion <- OSversion()
   r$OStype <- machine()
   r
  }


###########################################################

#    1/  Functions are for identifying S or R and flavours.

###########################################################

#Note It is tempting to use system.info as defined above, but there is a

#        bootstrapping problem to solve.

is.R <- function()
 {exists("version") && !is.null(vl <- version$language) && vl == "R" }

is.R.pre0.60 <- function()
  {is.R() && ((as.numeric(version$major)+.01*as.numeric(version$major))
<0.60) }


is.S <- function(){is.Svanilla() | is.Splus() }
is.Svanilla <- function(){!exists("version")}
is.Splus <- function(){exists("version") && is.null(version$language)}
is.Splus.pre3.3 <- function()
   { ## <= 3.2
    is.Splus() &&  ((system.info()$major+.1*system.info()$minor) < 3.3)
   }

###########################################################

#    2/  Functions are for identifying the operating system.

###########################################################

# if (is.R()) {machine <- machine}

if (is.S())
   {machine <- function()
      {if (version$os == "MS Windows") return(version$os)
       if (version$os == "Macintosh") return(version$os) # needs to be
checked
       else return ("Unix")  # not a very satisfactory test
      }
   }


is.MSwindows <- function(){machine() == "MS Windows"}
is.Mac       <- function(){machine() == "Macintosh" }
is.unix      <- function(){machine() == "Unix" }

# Other is.xxx() should be added here.

# determining Unix flavours doesn't seem to be too important but ...
is.Sun4 <- function() {OSversion() == "SunOS4" }
is.Sun5 <- function() {OSversion() == "SunOS5" }
is.Linux <- function(){OSversion() == "linux"}

OSversion <- function()
   {paste(unix("uname -s"), unix("uname -r | sed -e 's/\\.\.\*//'"),
sep="") }



###########################################################

#    3/  Functions depending only on the
#         differences between S and R

###########################################################

if(is.S())
   {if(is.unix())system.call  <- unix
    global.assign <- function(name, value) {assign(name,value, where =
1)}
    .SPAWN <- TRUE
    exists.graphics.device <- function(){dev.cur() !=1 }
    open.graphics.device  <- function(display=getenv("DISPLAY"))
                                 {openlook(display) }
    #                            {motif(display) }
    close.graphics.device <- function(){dev.off() }
    if (!exists("set.seed.Splus")) set.seed.Splus <- set.seed
    set.seed <- function(seed=NULL)
      {if (is.null(seed))
          seed <-.Random.seed
       else
         {if (1==length(seed)) set.seed.Splus(seed)
          else global.assign(".Random.seed", seed)
         }
       seed
      }

    "list.add<-" <- function(x, replace, value)
       {# replace or add elements to a list.
        x[replace] <- value
        # x[[replace]] <- value  would be more logical but doesn't work
        x
       }
   }

if(is.R())
   {#tempfile <- function(f)
    #   {# Requires C code also from Friedrich Leisch not in version
0.15 of R.
    #    d<-"This is simply a string long enough to hold the name of a
tmpfile";
    #     .C("tmpf", as.character(d))[[1]]
    #    }

    if (is.R.pre0.60())
        {tempfile <- function(pattern = "file")
                {system(paste("for p in", paste(pattern, collapse = "
"), ";",
                       "do echo /tmp/$p$$; done"),
                 intern = TRUE)
                }
        }

    unlink <- function(file) system.call(paste("rm -fr ", file))
    global.assign <- function(name, value)
                          {assign(name,value, envir=.GlobalEnv)}
    synchronize<- function(x){NULL} # perhaps this should do something?
    .SPAWN <- FALSE
    exists.graphics.device <- function(){exists(".Device")}
    open.graphics.device  <- function(display=getenv("DISPLAY"))
                                {x11(display) }
    close.graphics.device <- function(){F} # how do I do this?
    set.seed <- function(seed=NULL)
      {if (is.null(seed))
         {if (!exists(".Random.seed")) zzz <- runif(1) # seed may not
yet exist
          seed <-.Random.seed
         }
       else
         {if (1==length(seed))

global.assign(".Random.seed",round(runif(3,min=seed,max=1e5*seed)))
          else global.assign(".Random.seed", seed)
         }
       seed
      }

   "list.add<-" <- function(x, replace, value)
     {# replace or add elements to a list.
      if (is.numeric(replace))
        {# x<- do.call("default.[[<-", list(x,replace,value))   # use
default
         x[[replace]] <- value
         return(x)
        }
      if (is.null(value))  value <- list(NULL)
      if (!is.list(value)) value <- list(value)
      if (1 == length(value))
       {for (i in seq(length(replace)))
          x<- do.call("$<-", list(x,replace[i],value[[1]]))
       }
      else
        {if(length(value) != length(replace) )
         stop("number of replacement values != number of elements to
replace")
         for (i in seq(length(replace)))
            x<- do.call("$<-", list(x,replace[i],value[[i]]))
        }
      x
     }
 }


###########################################################

#    4/  Functions depending only on the
#         differences among operating system.

###########################################################

if(is.unix())
  {sleep <- function(n) {unix(paste("sleep ", n))} # pause for n seconds

   present.working.directory <- function(){unix("pwd")} # present
directory
   whoami <- function(){unix("whoami")} # return user id (for mail)
   local.host.netname <-function() {unix("uname -n")}

   mail <- function(to, subject="", text="")
    {# If to is null then mail is not sent (useful for testing).
     file <- tempfile()
     write(text, file=file)
   if(!is.null(to)) unix(paste("cat ",file, " | mail  -s '", subject, "'
", to))
     unlink(file)
     invisible()
    }

   file.copy <- function(from, to)unix(paste("cp ", from, to)) # copy
file

   file.date.info <- function(file.name)
     {# This could be a lot better. It will fail for files older than a
year.
      # Also, a returned format like date() below would be better.
      mo <- (1:12)[c("Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May", "Jun","Jul","Aug",
"Sep",
         "Oct","Nov","Dec") ==substring(unix(paste("ls -l
",file)),33,35)]
      day <- as.integer(substring(unix(paste("ls -l
",file.name)),37,38))
      hr  <- as.integer(substring(unix(paste("ls -l
",file.name)),40,41))
      sec <- as.integer(substring(unix(paste("ls -l
",file.name)),43,44))
      c(mo,day,hr,sec)
     }

}

if(is.MSwindows())
  {system.call  <- function(cmd)
         {stop("system calls must be modified for this operating
system.")}
   sleep <- system.call
   present.working.directory <- system.call
   whoami <- system.call
   file.copy <- system.call
   file.date.info <- system.call
  }



###########################################################

#    5/  Functions depending on both R/S and the
#         differences among operating system.

###########################################################

if(is.unix())
  {if(is.R())
     {unix <- function(cmd) system(cmd, intern=T)
      system.call <- function(cmd) system(cmd, intern=T)

      date <-function()
        {d<-parse(text=strsplit(
              unix("date \'+%Y %m %d %H %M %S\'")," ")[[1]])
         list(y=  eval(d[1]),
              m=eval(d[2]),
              d= eval(d[3]),
              h= eval(d[4]),
              m= eval(d[5]),
              s= eval(d[6]),
              tz=unix("date '+%Z'"))
        }
     }
   if(is.S())
     {system.call <- function(cmd) unix(cmd)

      date <-function()
        {d <- parse(text=unix("date '+%Y %m %d %H %M %S'"),white=T)
         list(y=  eval(d[1]),
              m=eval(d[2]),
              d= eval(d[3]),
              h= eval(d[4]),
              m= eval(d[5]),
              s= eval(d[6]),
              tz=unix("date '+%Z'"))
        }
     }
  }




##############################################################################




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