[R] GUI's for teaching

[Liaw, Andy]

> From: Marc R. Feldesman [mailto:feldesmanm at pdx.edu]
> Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 10:23 AM
> 
> At 05:03 AM 6/27/2002, Liaw, Andy wrote:
>  >My guess is that the args() function might help with the 
> second problem, no?
>  >
>  >Cheers,
>  >Andy
> 
> Yes and no.  I didn't mention args because can't use it "in real 
> time".  That is, the problem often arises after the student 
> has typed the 
> function name and the opening parenthesis.  Its a bit tough 
> to type args() 
> in the middle of typing the actual function whose arguments 
> you're trying 
> to remember.  It is also difficult in the middle of a string 
> of cascading 
> functions.
> 
> One (?simple) solution might be context-sensitive help (F1?) 
> that calls up 
> the argument list of the function closest to the point of 
> invocation (e.g. 
> in this trivial example):
> 
>  >sqrt(var(x))
>              ^      F1 after the "r" or "(" following "var" 
> would bring up 
> the args for var().
> 

Well, not exactly...  Methods could be a bit problematic.  If you just do
args(plot), it's not going to be terribly informative.  It needs at least
the first argument to figure out which actual method to call, and the actual
method dispatch will need to be re-implemented at that level
(context-sensitive help).  That seems like quite a bit of work...

Cheers,
Andy


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