[R] Documentation General Comments

[Duncan Murdoch]

On 21/04/2008 6:36 PM, Dr. Jeff Miller wrote:
> I agree completely.  Maybe it's time for an exhaustive manual (with weekly
> downloadable updates, of course).
> 
> It would also be nice if it were cross-referenced. For example, to get what
> I wanted last weekend from a simple 2x2 contingency analysis, I had to
> bounce between 4 different libraries. (All I was trying to do was replicate
> the output from SAS Proc Freq).
> 
> A lot of the library documentations have a See Also section but these may be
> getting out of date.  
> 
> But maybe our request is too monumental to be feasible. (?)

No, it's entirely achievable.  Like all open source projects, the things 
that get done are those that scratch an itch.  You and Kenneth both see 
a need for better docs:  so write some!  (Maybe you don't feel expert 
enough to do that.  In that case, organize a project to encourage other 
people to contribute better documentation.  What would encourage them? 
Positive feedback, financial support, etc:  the usual things.)

Remember:  you aren't a customer.  You are a collaborator.

Duncan Murdoch

> Jeff
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: r-help-bounces at r-project.org [mailto:r-help-bounces at r-project.org] On
> Behalf Of Beck, Kenneth (STP)
> Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 5:56 PM
> To: r-help at r-project.org
> Subject: [R] Documentation General Comments
> 
> I realize the R developers are probably overwhelmed and have little time for
> this, but the documentation really needs some serious reorganizaton.
> A good through description of basic variable types would help a lot, e.g.
> the difference between lists, arrays, matrices and frames. And, it appears
> there is some object-orientation to R, but it is not complete. I can't, for
> instance find a "metafile" method for a "recordedplot" type, using either
> the variable direclty or the replayPlot() method. I am sorry to post this,
> but I am really having trouble sorting out certain methods in "R". The basic
> tutorial "Introduction to R" is so basic, it hardly helps at all, then
> digging through documentation is really an exercise in frustration. The
> SimpleR is also so basic it is of little help other than to just get
> started. I occasionally find answers in the mailing list. See my later post
> on recordPlot for a good example. 
> 
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