[R] help.start in R-1.7.0 with Netscape 7.0.

Rolf Turner rolf at math.unb.ca
Tue Apr 22 19:02:19 CEST 2003


The recent discussion on lexical scoping has enlightened me
as regards the phenomenon that I found so puzzling yesterday:

> So help() doesn't find the local copy of browseURL() unless there is
> also a local copy of help() --- and that local copy needs to have
> been created by sourcing a text file!!!  This doesn't make any sense
> to me.  It verges on the mystical.  What on earth is going on?

Thomas Lumley's succinct explanation 

> ... the lookup depends on where a function was defined, not where
> it was called from.

made the light click on.  No mystical behaviour at all.

The silence as regards the substance of my question has been
deafening, however.

***HOW*** do I get help()/browseURL() to acquire a sensible idea of
``isLocal'' so that Netscape does not keep demanding new windows and
new ``profiles''?

Does this behaviour not amount to a bug in help()/browseURL()?

				cheers,

					Rolf Turner
					rolf at math.unb.ca



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