[R-SIG-Mac] homebrew install High Sierra - tcl-tk support

[David Winsemius]

> On Oct 17, 2017, at 1:43 AM, Rainer Krug <Rainer at krugs.de> wrote:
> 
> Hi
> 
> One question about home-brew installation:
> 
> After upgrading to High Sierra (and update to R 3.4.2), I don’t get tcl-tk support in R.
> 
> I get the following error:
> 
> 	> library(tcltk)
> 	Error: package or namespace load failed for ‘tcltk’:
> 	 .onLoad failed in loadNamespace() for 'tcltk', details:
> 	  call: fun(libname, pkgname)
> 	  error: Tcl/Tk support is not available on this system
> 	In addition: Warning message:
> 	S3 methods ‘as.character.tclObj’, ‘as.character.tclVar’, ‘as.double.tclObj’, ‘as.integer.tclObj’, ‘as.logical.tclObj’, ‘as.raw.tclObj’, ‘print.tclObj’, ‘[[.tclArray’, ‘[[<-.tclArray’, ‘$.tclArray’, ‘$<-.tclArray’, ‘names.tclArray’, ‘names<-.tclArray’, ‘length.tclArray’, ‘length<-.tclArray’, ‘tclObj.tclVar’, ‘tclObj<-.tclVar’, ‘tclvalue.default’, ‘tclvalue.tclObj’, ‘tclvalue.tclVar’, ‘tclvalue<-.default’, ‘tclvalue<-.tclVar’, ‘close.tkProgressBar’ were declared in NAMESPACE but not found
> 
> 
> Is this a problem on my side, or is there a problem with R & homebrew & High Sierra & tcl-tk?

Caveat. I know almost nothing about homebrew other than its function and the fact that users of it often have problems with installing R properly. The CRAN page for the Mac R 3.4.2 fork says:

-------begin-------
Contains R 3.4.2 framework, R.app GUI 1.70 in 64-bit for Intel Macs, Tcl/Tk 8.6.6 X11 libraries and Texinfo 5.2. The latter two components are optional and can be ommitted when choosing "custom install", they are only needed if you want to use the tcltk R package or build package documentation from sources.

Contains R 3.4.2 framework, R.app GUI 1.70 in 64-bit for Intel Macs, Tcl/Tk 8.6.6 X11 libraries and Texinfo 5.2. The latter two components are optional and can be ommitted when choosing "custom install", they are only needed if you want to use the tcltk R package or build package documentation from sources.
-----end----

So it makes me wonder if you need to add the correct versions of the underlying system packages in a manner that your homebrew installation can find them. (the 3.3 fork uses a differnt version of Tcl/Tk.) 

-- 
David.

> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rainer
> 
> 
> --
> Rainer M. Krug, PhD (Conservation Ecology, SUN), MSc (Conservation Biology, UCT), Dipl. Phys. (Germany)
> 
> University of Zürich
> 
> Cell:       +41 (0)78 630 66 57
> email:      Rainer at krugs.de
> Skype:      RMkrug
> 
> PGP: 0x0F52F982
> 
> 
> 
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David Winsemius
Alameda, CA, USA

'Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.'   -Gehm's Corollary to Clarke's Third Law