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

[Ben Bolker]

   I don't know if there's a good up-to-date list anywhere of 
editors/IDEs that handle R nicely, but it would include at least:

   Atom
   Sublime Text
   VS Code
   RStudio
   Jupyter notebooks
   vim
   emacs
   Tinn-R

   It's worth being able to choose from such a list both for general 
aesthetic preferences, and for those with accessibility challenges.

  I do agree that it would be nice if there were a way to make the R 
console work well with Dasher under Windows, but the technical details 
are completely beyond me.

On 2022-05-15 2:28 p.m., Paulo Barata wrote:
> 
> 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
>>
> 
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-- 
Dr. Benjamin Bolker
Professor, Mathematics & Statistics and Biology, McMaster University
Director, School of Computational Science and Engineering
(Acting) Graduate chair, Mathematics & Statistics