[Rd] Suggesting changes to HELP files?

[Romain Francois]

Hello Spencer,

Le 21.05.2006 19:23, Spencer Graves a écrit :
> Hi, Gabor:
>
> 	  Thanks.  My initial failed attempt to add to "R wiki" generated the 
> following two questions:
>
> 	  1.  What's the best way to find the R Wiki from "www.r-project.org"? 
>   I found it just now via RSiteSearch("R wiki").  Might it be reasonable 
> to add, e.g., a hot link to "R Wiki" under "Documentation"?
>   

The wiki is still a young project, so philippe does not want that kind 
of link yet, not before everything is set up allright, including for 
example the conversion of help pages in a wiki format that will be (in 
some way) editable to propose changes / new examples to package 
maintainers.

> 	  2.  I just found a page that reads, 'R Wiki - Documentation
> The “Wikified” version of all R man pages. To access a given page, type 
> the name of an R function in the search box at top right and click 
> “search”. Select the corresponding page in the search result.
>
> Alternatively, you can click the name of a function in an R code chunk 
> anywhere.'  (http://wiki.r-project.org/rwiki/doku.php?id=rdoc:rdoc)
>
> 	  I tried searching for 'vignette' but failed to get anything useful. 
> What am I missing?
>   

That page comes from the future, when the help pages will be there, that 
will work. But maybe something wiser could be done, to search *only* on 
the help pages. You are not missing anything, you just came too early. 
Of course, you can already add material into the wiki, but the user 
level is not really ready I think.
Also, there is a special interest list about the wiki where you can find 
more answers to your questions.
https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-wiki

Regards,

Romain


> 	  Thanks again,
> 	  Spencer Graves
>
> Gabor Grothendieck wrote:
>   
>> You could consider adding something to the wiki while you are
>> waiting.
>>
>> On 5/21/06, Spencer Graves <spencer.graves at pdf.com> wrote:
>>     
>>>          Is there a procedure for suggesting changes to HELP files of 
>>> the core
>>> R distribution?  If yes, what is it?  If it would be considered a
>>> friendly gesture, I could find the relevant *.Rd file and submit a
>>> suggested modification to it someplace.  Alternatively, I could just
>>> send suggestions someplace if they would receive appropriate
>>> consideration.
>>>
>>>          On many occasions, I think of modifications, e.g., additional
>>> examples, that could be added to 'help' pages that I believe would make
>>> it easier for people to understand how to use some R feature.  Instead,
>>> I often provide the same answer multiple times to different posts.
>>>
>>>          I can think of two changes off the top of my head that I'd 
>>> like to
>>> see:  First, many if not all of the helps page in the nlme and lme4
>>> packages should, I believe, include a reference Pinheiro and Bates.
>>> This is not the place for modesty on the part of Pinheiro, Bates, and
>>> co-workers.  I believe that many requests for help might be eliminated
>>> if such references were added.  Failing that, it would be easier for
>>> people like me to suggest someone read that book, because I wouldn't
>>> feel such a need to spell out the entire citation every time.
>>>
>>>          Second, I think the description of 'vignette' could be 
>>> enhanced to
>>> include some version of my 'p.s.' to
>>> 'http://finzi.psych.upenn.edu/R/Rhelp02a/archive/73494.html' and other
>>> similar posts.  In particular, I see that the 'edit' method is described
>>> there, but I didn't understand what it said until I already knew how to
>>> use it.  Also, 'edit' doesn't work for me under ESS / Emacs.  For that,
>>> I use Stangle (as Sundar Dorai-Raj taught me).
>>>
>>>          Thanks,
>>>          Spencer Graves
>>>
>>> ______________________________________________
>>> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>>>
>>>       
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>
>
>   


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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| Romain FRANCOIS - http://francoisromain.free.fr               |
| Doctorant INRIA Futurs / EDF                                  |
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