[R] runif limited precision

[Duncan Murdoch]

On 02/01/2009 7:33 PM, Stavros Macrakis wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 5:56 PM, Duncan Murdoch <murdoch at stats.uwo.ca> wrote:
>> I don't agree.  If you add too much technical detail to a topic, then people
>> don't "work through it".  I'd say the r<dist> pages generally give enough
>> detail now, but not too much.  If you add every detail that might interest
>> someone somewhere, then they'd all be hard to read.
> 
> Duncan, Daniel,
> 
> Thanks for your responses.
> 
> I agree that it's a delicate balance between too little and too much
> information on individual documentation pages -- especially when, as
> in this case, a number of different functions (r<dist>) share some
> content (RNG).  That said, I find in general that R documentation
> pages are somewhat on the "too little" side. In particular, I'd find
> it useful if there were more references to synthetic overviews: a link
> from the connection page to an overview of I/O; a link from the runif
> page to an overview of distributions; etc.

One structural problem we have is that it is hard to make a useful link 
between different types of documentation.  You can cite one of the 
manuals from a man page, but it's hard to make a convenient link to a 
particular section.  Vignettes are similar: when they exist, they often 
give exactly the overview you're looking for, but it's almost by chance 
that you find them.

I spent a little bit of time putting things in place so that 
help.search() could look through vignettes and manuals, but got 
sidetracked before it was complete, so I doubt it will make it into 2.9.0.

Duncan Murdoch