[R-SIG-Mac] automating some tasks

[stefano iacus]

please remove libxml2 from /usr/local/lib and the help will work.
stefano

On Jul 9, 2004, at 2:37 PM, Denis Chabot wrote:

> Hi, I have a few questions as a new user to R and some wishes for the 
> interface.
>
> First, is a way to specify which packages should be opened 
> automatically when one starts R? Ideally a pane of the preferences 
> would show the packages that are installed, like the "Packages/Package 
> Manager" command does, but the boxes that would be checked there would 
> be remembered and this list would be opened each time R starts. 
> Obviously this is not implemented now, so is there an alternative that 
> exists now, maybe a command file that is automatically read when R 
> starts and where I could specify packages to be loaded automatically?
>
> Second, I don't know what to think of the Help menu. Because I got no 
> result from using it except a slowing down of my computer, I opened 
> the Process Viewer (I think it is called this in English, it is 
> Moniteur d'activité in French). I should precise that I am working on 
> a 700 MHz iMac with 768 Mo RAM and OS X 10.3.4. With no application 
> other than Finder, Mail, and Process Viewer, around 90% of the 
> Processor Time is available. Launching R does not change this much.
>
> For this test, the first thing I did in R was selecting "Help/R Help", 
> the R Console says this:
>
> > help.start()
> Making links in per-session dir ...
> If /usr/bin/open is already running, it is *not* restarted, and you 
> must switch to its window.
> Otherwise, be patient ...
> >
>
> But nothing else of use happens. What is /usr/bin/open? How can I 
> switch to its window? There is not a Open application that appears in 
> the dock for me to switch to its window.
> At this point my Mac becomes sluggish, the processor activity jumped 
> from about 10 to 100%, and the two culprit are kernel_task (user Root) 
> and Open (user chabotd), with each about 45% of CPU time. Quitting R 
> does not stop these tasks. Indeed, after restarting R and choosing 
> Help again, I now have one kernel_task but two Open tasks! And still 
> no help!
>
> I also tried the "Help/R for Mac OS X FAQ", but all that did is start 
> the hated rainbow spinning ball. This opened another "Open task". 
> while I typed this paragraph, R froze and I cannot go back to it, I 
> can only force quit it. I just did but the kernel_Task and the two 
> Open tasks still hug my CPU, so I'll have to force quite them as well!
>
> I don't know Process Viewer very well, but it has an export button. If 
> you are interested, I used this button before launching Help from R 
> and after. I opened those plist files with TextWrangler and the 
> information is not in a format I can use easily, but maybe it is 
> usable by whoever will look in this matter. I will be pleased to email 
> these 2 files on request.
>
> Is Help working better for others or is this just a growing pain of 
> the new Aqua interface for R?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Denis Chabot
>
> _______________________________________________
> R-SIG-Mac mailing list
> R-SIG-Mac at stat.math.ethz.ch
> https://www.stat.math.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-mac
>