[Rd] Writing in R // R 4.2.0 on Windows doesn't work with Dasher

[Paulo Barata]

Mr. Murdoch,

Yes, following your suggestion, I see that I can use Dasher with R 4.2.0 
patched in Visual Studio Code. Dasher works well that way, Visual Studio 
Code does accept Dasher, so I can use Dasher with R in an interactive 
mode. I will have to understand better the workings of Visual Studio Code.

As an alternative, I will keep here two different versions of R: R 4.1.3 
for interactive use through Dasher, and R 4.2.0 for running programs 
(written by means of a text editor).

Anyway, I hope that some technical way can be found so that Dasher can 
be used regularly on the R console in R versions following R 4.2.0.

For your information, Dasher can be used on Windows and Linux, but 
currently not on Macs.

Best regards,

Paulo Barata

----------------------------------------------------------

On 15/05/2022 14:24, Duncan Murdoch wrote:
> On 15/05/2022 1:09 p.m., Paulo Barata wrote:
>>
>> Following Mr. Murdoch's suggestion, I installed R Studio (2022.02.2
>> build 485) on my Windows 10 Professional.
>>
>> When opening R Studio, it showed R 4.2.0 patched, the most recent
>> version of R I had installed here. As it happens with the standalone R
>> 4.2.0, Dasher did not work with R Studio with that version of R --
>> please see below what happened.
> 
> That's too bad.  Still, there are other front ends:
> 
> - Running Rterm in a command window.
> 
> - R in Visual Studio Code
> 
> - ESS in Emacs
> 
> - Others whose names I don't remember; not sure how active any of them 
> are these days.
> 
> And finally, if you are really desperate, I believe dasher runs on other 
> platforms besides Windows, i.e. Linux and MacOS.
> 
> Duncan Murdoch
> 
> 
>>
>> I unistalled R 4.2.0 patched and also R 4.2.0, so then my latest version
>> of R was R 4.1.3 patched. This was now the version of R that R Studio
>> used. Dasher also did not work in R Studio with R 4.1.3 patched --
>> please see below what happened. Please note that the standalone R 4.1.3
>> patched does work perfectly well with Dasher.
>>
>> What happens in R Studio with both R 4.2.0 patched and R 4.1.3 patched:
>> when I open R studio and start writing with Dasher, the first character
>> that I write is now the character that always appears on the R Studio
>> console, no matter what other characters I am commanding with Dasher.
>> For R Studio, strangely, Dasher seems to be stuck in the first character.
>>
>> For example, if I wish to write a plot command in R Studio, the first
>> Dasher "p" is accepted by R Studio, but the next "lot" appears on the R
>> Studio console as "ppp". This is is contrast with what happens with
>> Dasher on R 4.2.0, where, except for the "Enter" character, no other
>> character is accepted by R 4.2.0, the R 4.2.0 screen just does not
>> respond to Dasher.
>>
>> Both in R 4.2.0 and in R Studio, the "Enter" character of Dasher work
>> well, it makes the R prompt to jump to the next line.
>>
>> So, Dasher does not work with R Studio either, but in a different way
>> than it happens with R 4.2.0.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Paulo Barata
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On 15/05/2022 13:27, Duncan Murdoch wrote:
>>> On 15/05/2022 10:58 a.m., Ivan Krylov wrote:
>>>> On Sun, 15 May 2022 11:10:49 -0300
>>>> Paulo Barata <pb using infolink.com.br> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I noticed today that R 4.2.0 responds to the "Enter" character of
>>>>> Dasher version 5.0.0 beta in "Direct Entry" mode. An "Enter" in
>>>>> Dasher causes the R prompt to jump to the next line, as an "Enter"
>>>>> should do.
>>>>>
>>>>> No other characters (letters, digits, special characters like + = & ~
>>>>> | # $) are accepted by R 4.2.0 through Dasher.
>>>>
>>>> This seems to be very similar to the problem discussed here:
>>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/pipermail/r-devel/2022-May/081683.html
>>>>
>>>> For the record, here's the part of Dasher responsible for "Direct
>>>> Entry" on Windows:
>>>> https://github.com/dasher-project/dasher/blob/0ec7d646dbaadf06b8eebfc11b784738a20e75af/Src/Win32/Widgets/Edit.cpp#L302 
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> MSDN says:
>>>>
>>>>>> If KEYEVENTF_UNICODE is specified, SendInput sends a WM_KEYDOWN or
>>>>>> WM_KEYUP message to the foreground thread's message queue with
>>>>>> wParam equal to VK_PACKET. Once GetMessage or PeekMessage obtains
>>>>>> this message, passing the message to TranslateMessage posts a
>>>>>> WM_CHAR message with the Unicode character originally specified by
>>>>>> wScan.
>>>>
>>>> <https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/winuser/ns-winuser-keybdinput> 
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> As far as I can see, Graphapp never looks for VK_PACKET.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Previously, Tomas Kalibera has mentioned:
>>>>
>>>>> For Unicode Windows, GraphApp uses WM_IME_COMPOSITION messages to
>>>>> read the keys instead of WM_CHAR, which it uses for non-Unicode
>>>>> windows.
>>>>
>>>> I think that for a combination of R >= 4.2 and Dasher, this means an
>>>> impasse. Either Dasher should be taught to send WM_IME_COMPOSITION
>>>> messages to R (?), or R should learn to understand WM_CHAR messages in
>>>> its Unicode windows in addition to WM_IME_COMPOSITION it currently 
>>>> uses.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Another possible solution for Paulo is to use R via some other front end
>>> besides RGui, e.g. RStudio, but there are other possibilities too.
>>>
>>> Duncan Murdoch
>