[R] Need help to retrieve the previous commands by using ↑ and ↓ keys.

[Marc Schwartz]

On May 24, 2010, at 9:49 AM, makhdoomi wrote:

> To: r-help at r-project.org
> 
> 
>> hi,
>> I am using R version 2.10.0,OS fedora 11i terminal.when i am trying to
> retrieve the previous used R commands
>> by using ↑ and ↓ keys,but i get the output like this
> ^[[A^[[A^[[A^[[B^[[C^[[A.
>> can any one tell me how i can solve this problem.
> --
> Regards
> Ab Rauf Shah


You don't indicate how you installed R (compiled from source or via RPM). However, you appear to be missing the required 'readline' libraries and/or header files. It is the readline libraries that provide the command history and command line editing functionality in R's default console. This is covered in the R Installation and Administration Manual, among other places.

As 'root', use:

  yum install readline readline-devel

which will installed the required RPMs. Then you can re-compile and/or re-install R.

Lastly, you may not be aware, but Fedora 13 is scheduled for release tomorrow. That means that in 30 days, Fedora 11 will go End of Life (EOL), which means no further security fixes, patches, updates, etc. You will need to think about moving to at least Fedora 12 RSN.

HTH,

Marc Schwartz