[Rd] [R] Usage of OCaml/R binding.

[Guillaume Yziquel]

Hello.

Since nobody answered this on R-help@, I thought I'd push it through to 
R-devel at .

By the way, here's the webpage (in french) for the Debian package of 
Maxence Guesdon's OCaml/R bindings:

	http://yziquel.homelinux.org/topos/debian-ocamlr.html
	http://yziquel.homelinux.org/debian/pool/main/o/ocaml-r/

Guillaume Yziquel a écrit :
> Hello.
> 
> I've been pulling together a Debian package out of Maxence Guesdon's 
> OCaml bindings for R. Will be available from my website as soon as I get 
> my router to obey me. Here's Maxence's bindings:
> 
>     http://pauillac.inria.fr/~guesdon/ocaml-r.en.html
> 
> The purpose of this software is to access R from OCaml programs.
> 
> However, my issue is that after having pulled things to a Debian 
> package, I am completely unfamiliar with the API, and I'm having trouble 
> initialising this module.
> 
> You'll find below a list of the functions accessible from Maxence 
> Guesdon's R module (there's also a Rmath module for the math library 
> which I'm not yet concerned about).
> 
> I'd specifically appreciate information on how to get started using 
> these R API functions. If you're scared about OCaml, simply look at the 
> two declarations below in the following way:
> 
>     external init_r : string array -> int = "init_r"
> 
> 'external' means that this value is to be fetched by linking C code 
> identified by the '= "init_r"' ending statement. Typically, 'external' 
> values wrap the API functions. So this value is called init_r, and takes 
> an array of strings as first argument, and yields back an integer.
> 
>     val init : ?argv:string array -> unit -> int
> 
> 'val' means that it is a standard OCaml value. It's called init. And its 
> type is 'I take an array of strings as first argument, then a unit ( 
> think of it a C void value containing nothing), and I get back an 
> integer. The '?argv:' stuff is concerned with optional arguments, so no 
> real big deal.
> 
> Documentation and examples of how the API works to embed R in an 
> application would be highly appreciated. Please forward this email to 
> R-dev if you feel it belongs there.
> 
> All the best,
> 
> Guillaume Yziquel.
> 
>> yziquel at seldon:~/sandbox/repo/debian/debian-ocaml/ocaml-r$ 
>> ocaml-batteries         Objective Caml version 3.11.1
>>
>>       _________________________________
>>      |       | |                       |
>>     [| +     | | Batteries Included  - |
>>      |_______|_|_______________________|
>>       _________________________________
>>      |                       | |       |
>>      | -    Type '#help;;'   | |     + |]
>>      |_______________________|_|_______|
>>
>>
>> # #rectypes;;
>> # #require "R";;
>> # module X = R;;
>> module X :
>>   sig
>>     external init_r : string array -> int = "init_r"
>>     val init : ?argv:string array -> unit -> int
>>     external terminate : unit -> unit = "end_r"
>>     type sexp = R.sexp
>>     type symbol = string
>>     type arg = [ `Anon of sexp | `Named of sexp * symbol ]
>>     external sexp : string -> sexp = "r_sexp_of_string"
>>     external sexp_of_symbol : symbol -> sexp = "r_sexp_of_symbol"
>>     external set_var : symbol -> sexp -> unit = "r_set_var"
>>     external r_print_value : sexp -> unit = "r_print_value"
>>     external exec : string -> arg array -> unit = "r_exec"
>>     external current_test : unit -> unit = "r_current_test"
>>     external to_bool : sexp -> bool = "bool_of_sexp"
>>     external to_int : sexp -> int = "int_of_sexp"
>>     external to_float : sexp -> float = "float_of_sexp"
>>     external to_string : sexp -> string = "string_of_sexp"
>>     external of_bool : bool -> sexp = "sexp_of_bool"
>>     external of_int : int -> sexp = "sexp_of_int"
>>     external of_float : float -> sexp = "sexp_of_float"
>>     external of_string : string -> sexp = "sexp_of_string"
>>     external to_bool_array : sexp -> bool array = "bool_array_of_sexp"
>>     external to_int_array : sexp -> int array = "int_array_of_sexp"
>>     external to_float_array : sexp -> float array = "float_array_of_sexp"
>>     external to_string_array : sexp -> string array = 
>> "string_array_of_sexp"
>>     external of_bool_array : bool array -> sexp = "sexp_of_bool_array"
>>     external of_int_array : int array -> sexp = "sexp_of_int_array"
>>     external of_float_array : float array -> sexp = "sexp_of_float_array"
>>     external of_string_array : string array -> sexp = 
>> "sexp_of_string_array"
>>     external get_attrib : sexp -> string -> sexp = "r_get_attrib"
>>     val dim : sexp -> int array
>>     val dimnames : sexp -> string array
>>   end
>> # 
> 
> 


-- 
      Guillaume Yziquel
http://yziquel.homelinux.org/