[R] Problem and Question regarding R

[Bernhard Bals]

Hi,

I'm just about to install the Precompiled Binary Distribution of R from 
CRAN for SuSE Linux 8.2: R-base-1.7.1-1.i386.rpm

My system is SuSE Linux 8.2 Professional Edition on a Pentium 4:

# uname -a
Linux linux 2.4.20-4GB #1 Mon Mar 17 17:54:44 UTC 2003 i686 unknown 
unknown GNU/Linux


1) Problem:

I've tried to install the above base rpm archive with the command:

# rpm -i R-base-1.7.1-1.i386.rpm
error: failed dependencies:
         libg2c.so.0 is needed by R-base-1.7.1-1

There seems to be only one dependency missing (hope that's all). Since 
I've installed the Professional Edition with all the compilers and 
libraries, it's maybe only a naming problem.

What's behind this missing library?
Can this problem be fixed with a symbolic link pointing to a library 
that I already have on my system?
Any experience with that?

Do you think I need or should compile and install R myself (not using 
one of the binary distributions)?


2) Question:

I want to use R not only interactively (issue commands after the prompt 
 > ..), but also use some functionality of R from a Perl script.

Can I use methods of R from a Perl script: Is there an interface from 
Perl (or at least from C/C++) to R (f.e. invoke R functions from Perl, 
C, C++ or some other language)?
If so, can you please point me to the documentation on the Web or in 
literature where this is decribed?
Do you have some demo Perl script (or C/C++ program) that uses this 
technique, f.e. calling R methods like "mean" or "standard deviation"?


Thanks's for your help!


Regards
Bernhard
_________________

Dr. Bernhard Bals
Dollmannstr. 6
D-81541 München
+49-89-62509585
bbals at t-online.de