[Rd] use of the tcltk package crashes R 4.0.1 for Windows

[Fox, John]

Dear Peter,

First, thank you for following up on this problem.

Unless I somehow inexplicably missed it, as I just confirmed, the R 4.0.1 Windows installer *doesn't* ask to install support files for Tcl/Tk.

Nor am I only one to notice this problem. I was made aware of it when several Rcmdr users wrote to me yesterday to say that the package was crashing R when it loads.

Finally, even if Tcl/Tk support is now a non-default option in R for Windows, R shouldn't crash if Tcl/Tk isn't installed.

Best,
 John

> On Jun 7, 2020, at 2:44 AM, peter dalgaard <pdalgd using gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> John,
> 
> The Windows installation instructions document has the following. So, one obvious question is whether you did select it. (I haven't installed on WIndows for ages, so I don't know whether this was changed recently or even whether the selection is on or off by default).
> 
> -pd
> 
> Using package tcltk
> ===================
> 
> The package tcltk supports building graphical interfaces with Tcl/Tk.
> "Support Files for Package tcltk" needs to be selected from the
> installer for this to work; alternatively you can use an existing
> installation of Tcl/Tk 8.6.x by following the instructions in the
> rw-FAQ.
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On 7 Jun 2020, at 08:27 , peter dalgaard <pdalgd using gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Not happening on Mac, so likely a Windows build issue.
>> 
>> (There's no 4.0.1 CRAN package yet, and no nightly build of 4.0.1 Patched, but the only thing changed in the sources since r78644 is the VERSION file.)
>> 
>> -pd
>> 
>>> On 7 Jun 2020, at 03:13 , Fox, John <jfox using mcmaster.ca> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi,
>>> 
>>> The following code, from the examples in ?TkWidgets , immediately crashes R 4.0.1 for Windows:
>>> 
>>> --------------------- snip --------------------
>>> library("tcltk")
>>> tt <- tktoplevel()
>>> label.widget <- tklabel(tt, text = "Hello, World!")
>>> button.widget <- tkbutton(tt, text = "Push", 
>>> 	 command = function()cat("OW!\n"))
>>> tkpack(label.widget, button.widget) # geometry manager
>>> --------------------- snip --------------------
>>> 
>>> Session info (prior to the crash):
>>> 
>>> --------------------- snip --------------------
>>>> sessionInfo()
>>> R version 4.0.1 (2020-06-06)
>>> Platform: x86_64-w64-mingw32/x64 (64-bit)
>>> Running under: Windows 10 x64 (build 18363)
>>> 
>>> Matrix products: default
>>> 
>>> locale:
>>> [1] LC_COLLATE=English_United States.1252 
>>> [2] LC_CTYPE=English_United States.1252   
>>> [3] LC_MONETARY=English_United States.1252
>>> [4] LC_NUMERIC=C                          
>>> [5] LC_TIME=English_United States.1252    
>>> 
>>> attached base packages:
>>> [1] tcltk     stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  methods  
>>> [8] base     
>>> 
>>> loaded via a namespace (and not attached):
>>> [1] compiler_4.0.1 tools_4.0.1   
>>> --------------------- snip --------------------
>>> 
>>> I observe this behaviour both in the Rgui and when I run R in a terminal. I think the problem is general to the use of the tcltk package.
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> John
>>> 
>>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>>> John Fox
>>> Professor Emeritus
>>> McMaster University
>>> Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
>>> Web: https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/jfox/
>>> 
>>> ______________________________________________
>>> R-devel using r-project.org mailing list
>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>> 
>> -- 
>> Peter Dalgaard, Professor,
>> Center for Statistics, Copenhagen Business School
>> Solbjerg Plads 3, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark
>> Phone: (+45)38153501
>> Office: A 4.23
>> Email: pd.mes using cbs.dk  Priv: PDalgd using gmail.com
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
> -- 
> Peter Dalgaard, Professor,
> Center for Statistics, Copenhagen Business School
> Solbjerg Plads 3, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark
> Phone: (+45)38153501
> Office: A 4.23
> Email: pd.mes using cbs.dk  Priv: PDalgd using gmail.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>