[R-SIG-Mac] tcltk causes help() to hang in R 4.2.0 on macOS

[Jean Thioulouse]

Thank you ! I was wondering why I had this problem with help hanging. Note that if you close the browser window and type Ctrl-C in the console, the next help command will work correctly.

> sessionInfo()
R version 4.2.0 (2022-04-22)
Platform: aarch64-apple-darwin20 (64-bit)
Running under: macOS Monterey 12.4

Matrix products: default
BLAS:   /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.2-arm64/Resources/lib/libRblas.0.dylib
LAPACK: /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.2-arm64/Resources/lib/libRlapack.dylib

Random number generation:
 RNG:     Mersenne-Twister 
 Normal:  Inversion 
 Sample:  Rounding 
 
locale:
[1] fr_FR.UTF-8/fr_FR.UTF-8/fr_FR.UTF-8/C/fr_FR.UTF-8/fr_FR.UTF-8

attached base packages:
[1] tcltk     stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  methods  
[8] base     

loaded via a namespace (and not attached):
[1] compiler_4.2.0 tools_4.2.0   


> Le 28 mai 2022 à 19:36, John Fox <jfox using mcmaster.ca> a écrit :
> 
> Dear R-sig-mac list members,
> 
> I've discovered that loading the tcltk package apparently causes R 4.2.0 (including the current patched version) to hang on an M1 Mac.
> 
> Try, e.g.,
> 
> library("tcltk")
> help("lm")
> 
> My session info:
> 
> ------- snip -------
> 
> > sessionInfo()
> R version 4.2.0 Patched (2022-05-28 r82413)
> Platform: aarch64-apple-darwin20 (64-bit)
> Running under: macOS Monterey 12.3.1
> 
> Matrix products: default
> BLAS: /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.2-arm64/Resources/lib/libRblas.0.dylib
> LAPACK: /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.2-arm64/Resources/lib/libRlapack.dylib
> 
> locale:
> [1] en_US.UTF-8/en_US.UTF-8/en_US.UTF-8/C/en_US.UTF-8/en_US.UTF-8
> 
> attached base packages:
> [1] tcltk     stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  methods
> [8] base
> 
> loaded via a namespace (and not attached):
> [1] compiler_4.2.0
> 
> ------- snip -------
> 
> Some additional details: The problem occurs both in the R macOS console and, if options(help_type="html"), when R is run in a terminal window on macOS, but not when options(help_type="text"). The former is the default in the Mac R console, the latter when R is run in a terminal.
> 
> The problem is apparently new in R 4.2.0 -- it doesn't, e.g., occur in R 4.1.3. My apologies for not turning it up earlier.
> 
> I discovered the problem when accessing help in the Rcmdr GUI, which uses tcltk, caused R to hang.
> 
> Has anyone else encountered this problem?
> 
> Best,
> John
> -- 
> John Fox, Professor Emeritus
> McMaster University
> Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
> web: https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/jfox/
> 
> _______________________________________________
> R-SIG-Mac mailing list
> R-SIG-Mac using r-project.org
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-mac



—-
Jean THIOULOUSE - https://lbbe-web.univ-lyon1.fr/en/annuaires-des-membres/thioulouse-jean
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7664-0598 (ORCID page)
https://www.springer.com/fr/book/9781493988488 (ade4 Book)
https://pbil.univ-lyon1.fr/JTHome/Biblio/ThioulouseEB2021.pdf (Evol. Biol. paper)