[R-gui] Platform-independent GUI for R... again

[Philippe Grosjean]

A.J. Rossini wrote:

> No, you can build it.  There are a number of variations on 
> the theme, ranging from using Emacs widgets (as David 
> mentioned), to using R/S-PLUS as the backend for a 
> spreadsheet within Emacs (old, old work), to using ESS to 
> instantiate tcl/tk GUIs, to whatever.
> 
> Just use your imagination ;-).

Is anybody actually working on some GUI implementations using Emacs-ESS,
besides your trials, David, and your suggestions, Tony?

I think it should be possible to make a mix between Emacs-ESS and its
numerous potentials, and my GUI API for R, together with a little bit of
tcltk. The priority would be to make Emacs-ESS more accessible and less
intimidating for beginners (by hiding less used functions, by adding more
toolbar buttons, by facilitating installation -John Fox's page about
installing Emacs-ESS under Windows goes in this direction-...), then to
implement something like an object explorer, a views display (in an Emacs
buffer?), and the equivalent of the "docking windows" in SciViews R Console
which displays menus/electronic reference cards/graph galeries/etc...

I would be happy to collaborate with anybody willing to do so, but for now,
I have too much work concentrating on the finalization of the R GUI API to
start this myself. As I said, I know really too little about Emacs to be
able to start such an entreprise alone.
 
> But in all seriousness, it's not nearly as limiting as you 
> are imagining, and much more flexible than most of the 
> examples you've given.  There is always the problem of 
> coding, though...

Best,

Philippe