1 1 General Information: README
2 *****************************
4 This is the README file for the distribution of ESS version
8 ESS is a GNU Emacs and XEmacs mode for interactive statistical
9 programming and data analysis. Languages supported: the S family (S
10 3/4, S-PLUS 3/4/5/6/7, and R), SAS, XLispStat, Stata and BUGS.
11 Installation help can be found in sections for both Unix and Windows.
12 For INSTALLATION, see way below.
14 ESS grew out of the desire for bug fixes and extensions to S-mode and
15 SAS-mode as well as a consistent union of their features in one package.
17 The current development team is led by Martin Maechler since August
18 2004. Former project leader A.J. (Tony) Rossini
19 (<rossini@blindglobe.net>) did the initial port to XEmacs and has been
20 the primary coder. Martin Maechler (<maechler@stat.math.ethz.ch>) and
21 Kurt Hornik (<Kurt.Hornik@R-project.org>) have assisted with S-PLUS,
22 S4, R, and XLispStat. Stephen Eglen (<stephen@gnu.org>) has worked
23 mostly on R support. Richard M. Heiberger (<rmh@temple.edu>) has
24 assisted with S-PLUS and S4 development for Windows. Richard and
25 Rodney A. Sparapani (<rsparapa@mcw.edu>) have done much of the work
26 implementing interactive SAS (iESS[SAS]) and batch SAS (ESS[SAS])
29 We are grateful to the previous developers of S-mode (Doug Bates, Ed
30 Kademan, Frank Ritter, David M. Smith), SAS-mode (Tom Cook) and
31 Stata-mode (Thomas Lumley).
36 ESS is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
37 the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
38 Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later
41 ESS is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
42 ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
43 FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
44 in the file COPYING in the same directory as this file for more details.
46 1.2 Starting an ESS process
47 ===========================
49 To start an S session on Unix or on Windows when you use the Cygwin
50 bash shell, simply type `M-x S RET'.
52 To start an S session on Windows when you use the MSDOS prompt
53 shell, simply type `M-x S+6-msdos RET'.
58 Changes/New Features in 5.3.7:
59 * ESS: `ess-default-style' now *is* customizable, i.e., changing
60 its value in `~/.emacs' now does have the desired effect.
62 * ESS: `ess-font-lock-mode' is a new variable (default: t) which
63 controls whether font-locking is enabled in ESS buffers.
65 * ESS[R]: for XEmacs on Windows; another tweak to find R versions
67 * ESS[SAS]: font-locking updated for ODS and SAS Bayesian Procedures;
68 a more consistent handling of SAS options by
69 `ess-sas-submit-command-options' which is buffer-local; portable
70 snooze for MS Windows via customize-able `ess-sleep-for' (floats
73 Changes/New Features in 5.3.6:
74 * ESS: for XEmacs, using "gnuclient" (without a "-q") works for
75 things like fix() after M-x gnuserv-start has been done.
77 * ESS[R]: M-x R-newest should now work in more situations on MS
78 Windows, e.g., when R has been installed in a non-default
79 "ProgramFiles" directory tree. In these cases, there's no need
80 to specify the name (and full path) of the R program anymore.
82 * ESS[R]: For XEmacs, startup (with new tooltip code) works again.
84 Changes/New Features in 5.3.5:
85 * ESS[R] a new defun is available, `M-x R-newest', which will start
86 the newest version of R that it can find on your system.
88 * ESS[R] add Sven Hartenstein's "R function arguments tips"
89 functionality, via new file `../lisp/essd-r-args.el'. Note that
90 this includes an "electric "("" behavior inside `R-mode' which is
91 _active by default_ and can be customized via
92 `ess-r-args-electric-paren'; i.e., use `(setq
93 ess-r-args-electric-paren nil)' to turn it off. Further,
94 `ess-r-args-show-as' allows to switch to the "tooltip" mode.
96 * ESS: functions `ess-get-pdf-viewer' and *-ps-viewer; built on new
97 customizable variables `ess-pdf-viewer-pref' and
98 `ess-ps-viewer-pref'; currently used in `ess-swv-PDF' and `*-PS'.
100 * ESS[R] Improved `ess-swv-PDF' to run pdf viewer only if pdflatex
103 * ESS[R] Improved `ess-swv-weave' to start R automatically if none
106 * ESS: Do no longer ask _which_ ESS process to use if there is only
109 Changes/New Features in 5.3.4:
110 * ESS[R] now better work with options(error=recover); and the new
111 default of CHM help files on windows.
113 * ESS[R] some more cleanup in the "sweave" functions
115 * miscellaneous fixes
117 Changes/New Features in 5.3.3:
118 * ESS[S] fix buglet (5.3.2 only) which left command prompt in
119 "execute buffer" and hence help files.
121 * new customizable variable `ess-display-buffer-reuse-frames' set to
122 true (which changes default behavior) such that execution or help
125 Changes/New Features in 5.3.2:
126 * Classic BUGS now supported by `(require 'essd-bugs)' with ESS[BUGS]
127 and JAGS by `(require 'essd-jags)' with ESS[JAGS]. But,
128 only one of them can be used at a time since they don't play
129 nice together. Also, `C-c C-c' is now bound to the function
130 `ess-bugs-next-action' (`F12' has been retired). And
131 finally, note that `essl-bug.el' is deprecated and the
132 replacement is `essl-bugs.el'.
134 * ESS[R] Improved some of the "Sweave-make" functions (yet scarcely
135 documented) in `ess-swv.el'.
137 * ESS[S] No longer mess with .Last.value (nor in other "languages").
139 Changes/New Features in 5.3.1:
140 * See the docs for 2 ways to install ESS for XEmacs
141 1. by uncommenting the XEmacs part of Section 1 of
142 `Makeconf' and performing `make install'
144 2. by unpacking either `ess-5.3.1.tgz' or
146 `PREFIX/lib/xemacs/site-packages' on unix or
147 `PREFIX\XEmacs\site-packages' on windows
149 * ESS[R]: fixed bugs so that Rterm.exe can be found by XEmacs
151 * ESS[S]: `ess-toggle-S-assign-key' is slightly changed; in
152 particular, the default `ess-assign-key' is now `C-x ='.
154 * ESS[R]: `M-x R-site-search' is a new (slightly experimental)
155 utility similar to R's `RSiteSearch(..)' but with the advantage of
156 using Emacs' preferred browser, see `browse-url-browser-function'
158 Changes/New Features in 5.3.0:
159 * ESS[BUGS]: sanely re-format statistical output, `.bog', from
160 scientific notation to numbers rounded with 4 decimal places with
161 `M-x ess-bugs-sci-round-to-4-dp'.
163 * The keys for navigating among section headings in help buffers
164 worked, but only for one language per session; they should now
165 work for multiple languages. (They were also broken on Windows
168 * ESS[S] long standing buglets in the internal logic for loading
169 lisp code on Windows. Particularly fixed behavior in help mode
172 * New variable, `ess-use-inferior-program-name-in-buffer-name',
173 which enables using the executable name instead of the dialect
174 name for R. Feature request.
176 * ESS[S] `ess-execute-screen-options' now also works correctly when
177 there is more than one window *side-by-side* in the same frame and
178 runs in the correct buffer also when there is more than one S
181 * iESS[S] new functions `ess-eval-paragraph-and-step' and
182 `ess-eval-function-or-paragraph-and-step' are bound to keys `C-c
183 C-p' and `C-c C-c' respectively and to the menu in ESS-mode; also
184 bound in the help mode (for evaluating examples).
186 * ESS[S] new function `ess-toggle-S-assign-key' allows to assign the
187 " <- " insertion to an arbitrary key.
189 Changes/New Features in 5.2.12:
190 * ESS[SAS]: `M-;' fixed, but the XEmacs function `comment-dwim' may
191 be broken, if so, use `M-x comment-region' and `M-x
192 uncomment-region' instead; only valid PROCs are fontified which is
193 very helpful finding syntax errors (currently supported: BASE,
194 ETS, FSP, GRAPH, IML, INSIGHT and STAT); the "feature" where
195 `F'-keys take you to an empty buffer when the requested
196 destination is a file that does not exist has been fixed, now the
197 request results in a no-op. Further, sas-mode now also works in
200 * Rterm/Cygwin combination works under Microsoft Windows.
202 * ESS[R]: internal calls use baseenv() instead of NULL and define
203 'baseenv' where needed.
205 * New experimental support for installing ESS. See the file
206 `lisp/ess-install.el'.
208 Changes/New Features in 5.2.11:
209 * ESS Info entry and `dir' handled more effectively for GNU Emacs
212 * ESS[SAS]: temporary files created for batch submission of a region
213 are now named based on the current file; see `ess-sas-file-root'
214 for details; all `lag' and `dif' functions now fontified correctly
216 * iESS[SAS]: fixed a few nagging bugs, however, still does not
217 appear to work at this time; please let us know if you have any
220 * ESS[S]: Support for running other versions of Splus has been added
221 for unix. Two new variables, `ess-s-versions' and
222 `ess-s-versions-list', are used to tell ESS what other versions of
223 Splus you would like to run.
225 Changes/New Features in 5.2.10:
226 * ESS[R]: ess-r-versions can no longer be customized (since the
227 customization was not taking effect unless customizations were
228 loaded before ESS). Its value has been changed so that it will
229 also find R executables beginning "R-devel" and "R-patched". If
230 you wish to change this variable, it must be set in your `.emacs'
231 before ESS is loaded.
233 * Installation with GNU Make enhanced: unix and unix-like operating
234 systems will now be able to install ESS for all users in either a
235 GNU Emacs site-lisp or an XEmacs package configuration by editing
236 `lisp/ess-site.el' and `Makeconf' accordingly, then issuing `make
239 * ESS[S]: Filename completion (inside strings) now also works in
240 XEmacs for R and S-plus.
242 Changes/New Features in 5.2.9:
243 * ESS[R] for Windows: the \ directory character bug with respect to
244 ess-load-file has been eradicated.
246 * iESS[SAS]: `C-c C-r' and `C-c C-b' once again work as intended and
249 * ESS[S]: M-x ess-fix-EQ-assign is a bit more agressive.
251 * ESS[S]: Imenu now also shows setAs(), etc.
253 * ESS[R]: R function pattern enhanced with underlying code such that
254 `M-C-a' (`ess-beginning-of-function') etc now work for many more
255 cases, including S4 method definitions.
257 * iESS[R]: myOwnhelp(1) no longer wrongly triggers help(1).
259 * ESS[R]: Improved detection of bogus help buffers: valid help
260 buffers containing with the string "no documentation"(e.g. contour)
261 were being treated as bogus.
263 * ESS[R]: In R help buffers, if `options("help.try.all.packages" =
264 TRUE)' then `?rlm' will list which packages rlm is defined in.
265 This help buffer is not bogus, but instead is now relabelled
266 "*help[R](rlm in packages)*".
268 * ESS[STA]: add "//" as comment starting character to syntax-table.
270 Changes/New Features in 5.2.8:
271 * iESS: [Tab] completes *file* names "inside string" as in earlier
272 (<= 5.2.3) ESS versions.
274 Changes/New Features in 5.2.7:
275 * If you use Custom to change the variable ess-toolbar-items, the
276 new toolbar is used in all subsequent ESS buffers.
278 * ESS[SAS]: new feature: if ess-sas-log-max >0 and your .log grows
279 to more than ess-sas-log-max bytes, just the first ess-sas-log-max
280 bytes are refreshed; this is helpful when your .sas program
281 generates lots of error messages and gets too big for emacs to
284 * ESS[R/S]: `M-;' in R/S editing modes will now indent with either
285 one or two hashes depending on context.
287 * ESS[R]: David Whiting's Sweave extensions (to 'noweb') are now
288 available (from ess-swv.el loaded by default).
290 Changes/New Features in 5.2.6:
291 * Removed non-ASCII characters in a few files.
293 * ESS[R]: now works better when UTF-8 locale is active; in
294 particular, you get correct directional quotes in R's startup
295 message for R-devel (unstable development version of R 2.1.0)
296 when using environment variables LANGUAGE=en@quot
299 * ESS[SAS]: toggling of .log mode improved (`F10'); toggling of .lst
300 mode now also available (`C-F10'); killing all buffers associated
301 with .sas program no longer bound to `C-F10' since its a bit
304 * S-Plus 7 for Windows is now recognized.
306 * ESS[S] (incl. R): in auto-fill mode, strings are not wrapped
309 * ESS[S] (incl. R): font-lock now correctly differs between R and S,
310 e.g., for "_"; both now fontify warning(.) and S does terminate()
313 * Support for `bell' aka `beep' aka `ding' aka `alarm' in all
314 inferior modes: When \a is output "to the the console" at the
315 beginning of a line, the bell is rung.
317 Changes/New Features in 5.2.5:
318 * ESS[R]: `C-c C-q' or `Quit S' from the menu now should work (again
319 and less klunkily) and do not append `-exited' to the buffer name.
320 Further, the behavior of `(ess-cleanup)', called from ess-quit,
321 now depends on the new customizable variable
322 `ess-S-quit-kill-buffers-p' which defaults to `nil'.
323 Consequently, the question _"Delete all buffers associated with
324 ..?"_ will not be asked anymore by default.
326 * ESS[SAS] - ess-ebcdic-to-ascii-search-and-replace will now work
327 with the `recode' application as well which is available on many
330 * ESS[S] (incl. R): Name completion for slots of S4 objects now
333 Changes/New Features in 5.2.4:
334 * The documentation now includes an overview of how to use the emacs
335 TAGS facility for S functions. (The distribution also used to
336 contain a directory `etc/other/Tags' where a ~1990 version of
337 `etags.c' was distributed; this is no longer relevant and so has
340 * ESS[SAS] - When you are working with EBCDIC files on an ASCII
341 platform, .log NOTEs may display as gibberish since the EBCDIC
342 characters are not converted to ASCII prior to their display. So,
343 the function ess-ebcdic-to-ascii-search-and-replace is provided for
344 convenience and is bound to `C-F11'. This function requires the
345 `dd' command (only available on unix or unix-like platforms).
347 * ESS: Completion of object names is now always done dynamically
348 rather than allowing the option of using a pre-computed database
349 (by `ess-create-object-name-db') since modern computers seem fast
350 enough for dynamic completion. (We expect few users, if any, have
351 been using the pre-computed database method.)
353 * ESS: object completion in iESS buffers running on Windows was very
354 slow (for GNU Emacs, but not XEmacs) and has now been fixed.
355 Further, it was more or less broken for all versions of S-plus 6.x,
356 and has been fixed to work everywhere but with the Windows' GUI of
357 S-plus. The list of objects now shows unique names also when an
358 object appears more than once in the search path.
360 * ESS[R]: Completion of object names now also includes those
363 Changes/New Features in 5.2.3:
364 * ESS: When new inferior ESS processes are created, by default they
365 will replace the current buffer (this restores behavior from pre
366 5.2.0). If you wish new ESS processes to start in another window
367 of the current frame, set inferior-ess-same-window to nil.
369 * New variables inferior-Splus-args and inferior-R-args provide a
370 way to pass command line arguments to starting S and R processes.
372 Changes/New Features in 5.2.2:
373 * bug-fixes for 5.2.1 (require 'executable), html docs, etc.
375 * ess-lisp-directory/../doc/info added to Info-directory-list if
376 ess-info not found by info
378 * ESS[R]: If you have other versions of R on your exec-path, such as
379 "R-1.8.1" with Unix or "rw1081" with Windows, ESS will find them
380 and create appropriate functions, such as `M-x R-1.8.1' or `M-x
381 rw1081', for calling them. By default only Unix programs
382 beginning "R-1" and "R-2" and Windows programs parallel to the
383 version of R in your exec-path will be found, but see
384 ess-r-versions and ess-rterm-versions for ways to find other
387 * ESS[R]: Other versions of R, such as "R-1.8.1" on Unix and
388 "rw1081" on Windows, are added to the "ESS / Start Process /
391 * ESS[S]: If you have other versions of S-Plus on your Windows
392 computer, such as S-Plus 6.1 or S-Plus 4.5, ESS will find them and
393 create appropriate functions, such as `M-x splus61', for calling
394 the console version (Sqpe) inside an emacs buffer. By default only
395 programs installed in the default location will be found, but see
396 ess-SHOME-versions for ways to find other versions of S-Plus.
398 * ESS[S]: Other versions of Sqpe on Windows, such as "splus61", are
399 added to the "ESS / Start Process / Other" menu.
401 * ESS[R]: (bug fix) ess-quit (bound to `C-c C-q') should now quit the
402 inferior R process, when issued from either the inferior buffer,
405 Changes/New Features in 5.2.1:
406 * ESS[S] (R and S-plus): now have toolbar support with icons to
407 evaluate code in the inferior process or to switch there. This
408 code is experimental and likely to change as XEmacs/Emacs issues
409 get resolved. The toolbar should be enabled if your Emacs displays
410 images, but can be disabled with the variable ess-use-toolbar.
411 Thanks to David Smith from Insightful for the S-plus logo.
413 * ESS[SAS]: ess-sas-graph-view (`F12') enhanced; you can specify
414 external file viewers for each graphics file type via the alist
415 ess-sas-graph-view-viewer-alist; also .jpg/.gif are now handled by
416 image-mode on XEmacs, if available, otherwise by graphics
419 Changes/New Features in 5.2.0:
420 * ESS[BUGS]: new info documentation! now supports interactive
421 processing thanks to Aki Vehtari (mailto:Aki.Vehtari@hut.fi); new
422 architecture-independent unix support as well as support for BUGS
425 * ESS[SAS]: convert .log to .sas with ess-sas-transcript; info
426 documentation improved; Local Variable bug fixes; SAS/IML
427 statements/functions now highlighted; files edited remotely by
428 ange-ftp/EFS/tramp are recognized and pressing SUBMIT opens a
429 buffer on the remote host via the local variable
430 ess-sas-shell-buffer-remote-init which defaults to "ssh"; changed
431 the definition of the variable ess-sas-edit-keys-toggle to boolean
432 rather than 0/1; added the function ess-electric-run-semicolon
433 which automatically reverse indents lines containing only "run;";
434 `C-F1' creates MS RTF portrait from the current buffer; `C-F2'
435 creates MS RTF landscape from the current buffer; `C-F9' opens a
436 SAS DATASET with PROC INSIGHT rather than PROC FSVIEW; "inferior"
437 aliases for SAS batch: `C-c C-r' for submit region, `C-c C-b' for
438 submit buffer, `C-c C-x' for goto .log; `C-c C-y' for goto .lst
440 * ESS[S]: Pressing underscore ("_") once inserts " <- " (as before);
441 pressing underscore twice inserts a literal underscore. To stop
442 this smart behaviour, add "(ess-toggle-underscore nil)" to your
443 .emacs after ess-site has been loaded;
444 ess-dump-filename-template-proto (new name!) now can be customized
445 successfully (for S language dialects); Support for Imenu has been
446 improved; set ess-imenu-use-S to non-nil to get an "Imenu-S" item
447 on your menubar; ess-help: Now using nice underlines (instead of
450 * ESS[R]: After (require 'essa-r), `M-x ess-r-var' allows to load
451 numbers from any Emacs buffer into an existing *R* process; `M-x
452 ess-rdired' gives a "directory editor" of R objects; fixed
453 ess-retr-lastvalue-command, i.e. .Last.value bug (thanks to David
456 * ESS: Support for creating new window frames has been added to ESS.
457 Inferior ESS processes can be created in dedicated frames by
458 setting inferior-ess-own-frame to t. ESS help buffers can also
459 open in new frames; see the documentation for ess-help-own-frame
460 for details. (Thanks to Kevin Rodgers for contributing code.)
462 Changes/New Features in 5.1.24:
463 * The version number is now correct even inside ESS/Emacs
465 Changes/New Features in 5.1.23:
466 * Minor more Makefile clean up.
468 Changes/New Features in 5.1.22:
469 * Besides info documentation, PDF and HTML documentation are also
470 provided (instead of built using "make") and available on the web
471 as well; see ESS web page (http://ess.r-project.org/) and StatLib
472 (http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/general/ESS/doc)
474 * Now that info documentation is available, the README.* files are
475 no longer supported. However, they are still distributed for what
478 * ESS is now an XEmacs package! See XEmacs Installation HOWTO
479 (http://www.xemacs.org/Install/index.html) for details
480 (specifically, items 10-15).
482 * ESS[SAS]: more user-friendly enhancements for remote SAS batch
483 jobs with Kermit file transfers (LOG and OUTPUT function key
484 features now supported). Multiple shells now supported so you can
485 run SAS on different computers from different buffers by setting
486 the buffer-local variable ess-sas-shell-buffer to unique buffer
489 * Major re-vamping of Makefile/Makeconf.
491 Changes/New Features in 5.1.21:
492 * ESS[SAS]: info documentation now available!, see ESS->Help for
493 SAS; `F12' opens GSASFILE nearest point for viewing either within
494 emacs, when available, or via an external viewer; more syntax
495 highlighting keywords; more enhancements for remote SAS batch jobs
496 with Kermit; new framework for remote SAS interactive jobs, see
499 * ESS[S]: info documentation now available!, see ESS->Help for the S
502 * Makefile: tag now independent of rel; info files made by
503 doc/Makefile and installed in new info sub-directory
505 Changes/New Features in 5.1.20:
506 * New `options()$STERM' in the S dialects (S, S-Plus, R). The S
507 program can determine the environment in which it is currently
508 running. ESS sets the option to `iESS' or `ddeESS' when it starts
509 an S language process. We recommend other specific values for S
510 language processes that ESS does not start.
512 * New `ess-mouse-me' function, assigned to S-mouse-3 by default.
513 User may click on a word or region and then choose from the menu
514 to display the item, or a summary, or a plot, etc. This feature
515 is still under development.
517 * GNU Emacs 21.1 is now supported (fixed for S dialects, SAS & BUGS),
518 (some from Stephen Eglen).
520 * XEmacs 21.x is now supported (fixed w32-using-nt bug)
522 * XEmacs on Win (NT) is better supported.
524 * Workaround for bug in Sqpe+6 (S-PLUS 6 for Win).
526 * should now work even when imenu is not available (for old
529 * ESS[SAS]: XEmacs-Imenu fix; `C-TAB' is globalized along with your
530 function-key definitions, if specified; you can specify your SAS
531 library definitions outside of autoexec.sas for ess-sas-data-view
532 with SAS code placed in the variable ess-sas-data-view-libname,
533 also the dataset name is defaulted to the nearest permanent dataset
534 to point; Speedbar support now works for permanent datasets, please
535 ignore first./last.; new font-locking is now the default with more
536 improvements for font-locking PROCs, macro statements, * ; and %* ;
537 comments; you can toggle sas-log-mode with `F10' which will
538 font-lock your .log (if it isn't too big); submit remote .sas
539 files accessed with ange-ftp, EFS or Tramp (Kermit is
540 experimental) by setting ess-sas-submit-method to 'sh;
541 ess-sas-submit-command and ess-sas-submit-command-options are
542 buffer-local so you can have local file variable sections at the
543 end of your .sas files to request different executables or specify
544 special options and the local file variables are re-read at submit
545 instead of only at file open so that if you make a change it is
546 picked up immediately;
548 * ESS[BUGS]: font-lock with `in' fixed.
550 * for STATA: font-lock bug fixed.
552 * for Rd mode: `C-c C-v' and `switch-process' in menu. further,
553 `C-c C-f' prefix (Rd-font) for inserting or surrounding a word by
554 things such as \code{.}, \code{\link{.}}, \emph{.} etc.
556 * new functions (ess-directory-function) and (ess-narrow-to-defun)
557 ess-directory <-> default-directory logic (Jeff Mincy).
559 * Re-organized Makefile and fixed a few bugs.
561 Changes/New Features in 5.1.19:
562 * S+6 now supported (Tony Rossini (Unix) and Rich Heiberger
565 * New BUGS support through ESS[BUGS] mode (Rodney Sparapani)
566 Templates assist you in writing .bug and .cmd code (.cmd and .log
567 are replaced by .bmd and .bog to avoid emacs extension collisions).
568 Substitution" parameters facilitate "automagic" generation of
569 data...in" and "init...in" filenames, "const N=" from your data
570 file and "monitor()/stats()" commands. Activated by pressing
573 * Fixes for `ess-smart-underscore' SAS breakage (Rich Heiberger)
575 * You can change between PC and Unix, local and global SAS
576 function-key definitions interactively (Rich Heiberger)
578 * `C-Submit' a highlighted region to SAS batch (Rodney Sparapani)
580 * New and improved SAS syntax highlighting (Rodney Sparapani) To get
581 the new functionality, set ess-sas-run-make-regexp to nil. Also
582 available in .log files via `F10'.
584 * Open a permanent SAS dataset for viewing via `F9' (Rodney
585 Sparapani) You must have the library defined in autoexec.sas for
588 * User-friendly defaults for `sas-program',
589 `ess-sas-batch-pre-command' and `ess-sas-batch-post-command' as
590 well Customize support for these and other ESS[SAS] variables
593 * `ess-sas-suffix-2' now defaults to .dat via `F11' (Rodney
596 * Emacs/XEmacs, Unix/Windows issues collectively handled in
599 * defadvice solves problem of missing *ESS* (thanks to Jeff Mincy)
601 * Improved manual a bit by including things that were only in
604 Changes/New Features in 5.1.18:
605 * New `ess-smart-underscore' function, now assigned to "_" by
606 default. Inserts `ess-S-assign' (customizable " <- "), unless
607 inside string and comments where plain "_" is used instead. (MM)
609 * Fixes for longstanding interactive SAS breakage (RMH)
611 Changes/New Features in 5.1.17:
612 * Documentation for Windows Installation (Rich Heiberger)
614 * removal of ess-vars, finalization of customize support (in the
615 sense that there is no more use of ess-vars, but that we need to
616 fix ess-cust) (AJ Rossini)
618 * Many small (and large) fixes/contributions (MMaechler)
620 * addition of the "S-equal" variable and provide `M-x
621 ess-add-MM-keys' a way to remap "_" to `ess-S-assign', typically "
622 <- ", but customizable. (MMaechler)
624 Changes/New Features in 5.1.16:
629 Changes/New Features in 5.1.15:
632 Changes/New Features in 5.1.14:
633 * Yet more fixes to SAS mode, (Rich Heiberger and Rodney Sparapani)
635 * Customize support (for most Emacsen which support it) (AJRossini)
637 * ARC and ViSta support out of the box, and fixes for XLispStat
640 Changes/New Features in 5.1.13:
641 * Version numbering finally all depending on the ./VERSION file,
642 thanks to Martin Maechler.
644 * Yet more fixes to SAS mode, thanks to Rich Heiberger.
646 Changes/New Features in 5.1.12:
647 * Splus 5.1 stabilized, thanks to Martin Maechler, Bill Venables,
648 Chuck Taylor, and others.
650 * More fixes to SAS mode, thanks to Rodney Sparapani and Rich
653 Changes/New Features in 5.1.11:
654 * More fixes to Stata mode, thanks to Brendan Halpin
655 (mailto:brendan@essex.ac.uk).
657 * fixed bugs in ESS-elsewhere, thanks to many testers
659 * README.SPLUS4WIN has DETAILED instructions for S-PLUS 2000, thanks
660 to David Brahm (mailto:brahm@alum.mit.edu).
662 * Fixes to SAS mode, thanks to Rodney Sparapani
664 Changes/New Features in 5.1.10:
665 * More fixes to Stata mode
667 * primitive generic version of ESS-elsewhere
669 * Small fixes to SAS/Stata.
671 Changes/New Features in 5.1.9:
674 * Literate Data Analysis using Noweb works
676 Changes/New Features in 5.1.8:
679 * R documentation mode defaults changed
681 Changes/New Features in 5.1.2:
682 * able to use inferior iESS mode to communicate directly with a
683 running S-Plus 4.x process using the Microsoft DDE protocol. We
684 use the familiar (from Unix ESS) `C-c C-n' and related key
685 sequences to send lines from the S-mode file to the inferior S
686 process. We continue to edit S input files in ESS[S] mode and
687 transcripts of previous S sessions in ESS Transcript mode. All
688 three modes know the S language, syntax, and indentation patterns
689 and provide the syntactic highlighting that eases the programming
695 * Languages Supported:
696 * S family (S 3/4, S-PLUS 3.x/4.x/5.x/6.x/7.x/8.x, and R)
704 * XLispStat including Arc and ViSta
706 * Editing source code (S family, SAS, BUGS/JAGS, XLispStat)
707 * Syntactic indentation and highlighting of source code
709 * Partial evaluation of code
711 * Loading and error-checking of code
713 * Source code revision maintenance
715 * Batch execution (SAS, BUGS/JAGS)
717 * Use of imenu to provide links to appropriate functions
719 * Interacting with the process (S family, SAS, XLispStat)
720 * Command-line editing
722 * Searchable Command history
724 * Command-line completion of S family object names and file
727 * Quick access to object lists and search lists
729 * Transcript recording
731 * Interface to the help system
733 * Transcript manipulation (S family, XLispStat)
734 * Recording and saving transcript files
736 * Manipulating and editing saved transcripts
738 * Re-evaluating commands from transcript files
740 * Help File Editing (R)
741 * Syntactic indentation and highlighting of source code.
743 * Sending Examples to running ESS process.
750 Versions 5.3.x are meant to be release-quality versions. While some
751 new features are being introduced, we are cleaning up and improving the
752 interface. We know about some remaining documentation inconsistencies.
753 Patches or suggested fixes with bug reports are much appreciated!
758 ESS has been tested with
762 * S-PLUS 3.3-4, 4.5, 2000, 5.0-1, 6.0-2, 7.0, 8.0
770 * JAGS 0.9, 1.0 (not quite working yet, patches welcome)
772 * Stata >=6.0 (recent Stata support limited due to changes in Stata)
774 on the following platforms
778 * Solaris/SPARC (all)
780 * MS Windows 98/NT/2000/XP (R, SPLUS 4.5/2000/6.0-2/7.0/8.0, SAS
781 interactive only, and BUGS 0.6)
783 * Apple Mac OS X 10.3-4 (R, JAGS)
785 with the following versions of emacs
787 * GNU Emacs 20.3-7, 21.1, 21.3-4, 22.1
789 * XEmacs 21.4.0-8, 21.4.9-13(1), 21.4.14-15, 21.4.17-21 (betas not
790 supported, but 21.5.23+ may work)
792 ---------- Footnotes ----------
794 (1) require the files.el patch to revert-buffer for the Local
795 Variables updating problem
797 1.7 Getting the Latest Version
798 ==============================
800 The latest released version of ESS is always available on the web at:
801 ESS web page (http://ess.r-project.org) or StatLib
802 (http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/general/ESS/)
804 The latest development version of ESS is available via
805 `https://svn.R-project.org/ESS/', the ESS Subversion repository. If
806 you have a Subversion client (see `http://subversion.tigris.org/'), you
807 can download the sources using:
808 % svn checkout https://svn.r-project.org/ESS/trunk PATH
809 which will put the ESS files into directory PATH. Later, within
810 that directory, `svn update' will bring that directory up to date.
811 Windows-based tools such as TortoiseSVN are also available for
812 downloading the files. Alternatively, you can browse the sources with a
813 web browser at: ESS SVN site (https://svn.r-project.org/ESS/trunk).
814 However, please use a subversion client instead to minimize the load
817 If you remove other versions of ESS from your emacs load-path, you
818 can then use the development version by adding the following to .emacs:
820 (load "/path/to/ess-svn/lisp/ess-site.el")
822 Note that https is required, and that the SSL certificate for the
823 Subversion server of the R project is
825 Certificate information:
826 - Hostname: svn.r-project.org
827 - Valid: from Jul 16 08:10:01 2004 GMT until Jul 14 08:10:01 2014 GMT
828 - Issuer: Department of Mathematics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, CH
829 - Fingerprint: c9:5d:eb:f9:f2:56:d1:04:ba:44:61:f8:64:6b:d9:33:3f:93:6e:ad
831 (currently, there is no "trusted certificate"). You can accept this
832 certificate permanently and will not be asked about it anymore.
834 1.8 Installation (from tar file)
835 ================================
837 1.9 Unix installation
838 =====================
840 1. `cd' to a directory where you keep emacs lisp files, or create a
841 new directory (for example, `$HOME/emacs') to hold the
842 distribution. This directory will be referred to below as "the
843 ESS distribution directory".
845 _Note for XEmacs packages:_ ESS is no longer available as an
846 XEmacs package. But, you can still install ESS into the XEmacs
847 package system by choosing
848 `ESSDIR'=`PREFIX/lib/xemacs/site-packages'. ESS requires that the
849 XEmacs sumo tarball (all XEmacs packages combined) also be
850 installed. For information on installing XEmacs packages, follow
851 this link: Quickstart Package Guide
852 (http://www.xemacs.org/Documentation/packageGuide.html).
854 2. Retrieve the latest version from ESS downloads area
855 (http://ess.r-project.org/downloads/ess) to `ESSDIR'.
857 3. Extract the files from the disribution.
858 If you are using GNU tar, `tar zxf ess-VERSION.tgz'.
859 Otherwise, `gunzip < ess-VERSION.tgz | tar xf -',
861 The `tar' command will create the subdirectory `ess-VERSION' and
862 install the files there.
864 4. Edit the file `ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site.el' as explained
865 in the comments section of that file.
867 5. If you are using GNU Emacs add the line
868 (load "ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site")
869 to `$HOME/.emacs'. For XEmacs, if you followed the XEmacs package
870 system installation advice, add the line
872 to `$HOME/.xemacs/init.el'. Otherwise, for XEmacs, add the line
873 (load "ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site")
874 to `$HOME/.xemacs/init.el'.
876 6. That's it! ESS is now ready to use. (The remaining step below is
877 only for a custom installation.) To edit statistical programs,
878 just open files with the requisite extensions (`.R' for R, `.sas'
879 for SAS, `.bug' for BUGS, etc.). To start a statistical process
880 within emacs, such as R, type `M-x R'.
882 7. (OPTIONAL) READ THIS ITEM THOROUGHLY BEFORE STARTING:
884 If you want to place the compiled files in other locations edit the
885 `LISPDIR', `INFODIR' and `ETCDIR' entries in Section 1 of
886 `Makeconf' in the `ESSDIR/ess-VERSION' directory (if you are using
887 XEmacs, then uncomment the XEmacs subsection in Section 1).
889 You can compile those files by:
892 When that completes successfully, install the compiled files:
896 1.10 Microsoft Windows installation
897 ===================================
899 For Microsoft Windows installation, please follow the next steps.
901 1. `cd' to a directory where you keep emacs lisp files, or create a
902 new directory (for example, `c:\emacs\') to hold the distribution.
903 This directory will be referred to below as "the ESS distribution
906 _Note for XEmacs packages:_ ESS is no longer available as an XEmacs
907 package. But, you can still install ESS into the XEmacs package
908 system by choosing `ESSDIR'=`PREFIX\XEmacs\site-packages'. ESS
909 requires that the XEmacs sumo tarball (all XEmacs packages
910 combined) also be installed. For information on installing XEmacs
911 packages, follow this link: Quickstart Package Guide
912 (http://www.xemacs.org/Documentation/packageGuide.html).
914 2. Retrieve the latest zip file (`ess-VERSION.zip') from ESS
915 downloads area (http://ess.r-project.org/downloads/ess) and store
916 it in the ESS distribution directory. Be aware that http browsers
917 on Windows frequently change the "." and "-" characters in
918 filenames to other punctuation. Please change the names back to
921 3. Extract all the files from `ess-VERSION.zip' into the ESS
922 distribution directory as `c:\emacs\ess-VERSION\'. (It is possible
923 to unpack the zip archive in Windows Explorer by double clicking
924 on the folder; you should then see a new folder called
925 `ess-VERSION'. Drag that folder into your ESS distribution
928 4. If you are using GNU Emacs add the line
929 (load "ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site")
930 to `%HOME%/.emacs'. For XEmacs, if you followed the XEmacs
931 package system installation advice, add the line
933 to `%HOME%/.xemacs/init.el'. Otherwise, for XEmacs, add the line
934 (load "ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site")
935 to `%HOME%/.xemacs/init.el'. _Note:_ Both GNU Emacs and XEmacs
936 require that the HOME environment variable be set on your system,
937 otherwise, your initialization file will not be utilized, and
938 therefore, ESS will not work.
940 After saving your initialization file, ESS is now installed.
941 Start a new emacs and you should be ready to use ESS. For
942 example, to edit statistical programs, load the files with the
943 requisite extensions (".sas" for SAS, ".S" or "s" or "q" or "Q"
944 for S-PLUS, ".r" or ".R" for R, and ".lsp" for XLispStat). One
945 further step is needed if you wish to run statistical processes,
948 5. To run statistical processes under ESS, Windows users will need to
949 make sure that the directories for the software they will be using
950 is in the PATH environment variable. On Windows 9x, add lines
951 similar to the following to your `c:\autoexec.bat' file:
952 path=%PATH%;c:\progra~1\insightful\splus70\cmd
953 On Windows NT/2000/XP, add the directories to the PATH using the
954 `My Computer/Control Panel/System/Advanced/Environment Variables'
955 menu. Note that the directory containing the program is added to
956 the PATH, not the program itself. One such line is needed for
957 each software program. Be sure to use the abbreviation `progra~1'
958 and not the long version with embedded blanks. Use backslashes
961 An alternative, for R users, is that rather than adjusting the PATH
962 variable, you can add the following to your emacs initialization
963 file (and restart emacs):
964 (setq inferior-R-program-name "C:/progra~1/R/R-2.2.1/bin/Rterm.exe")
965 This assumes that you have installed R-2.2.1 in the default
966 location. Change the path otherwise to point to other locations.
968 Windows users who place S-PLUS anywhere other than the default
969 location will also need to add the following three lines (properly
970 adjusted for their location) to their `%HOME%/.emacs' or
971 `%HOME%/.xemacs/init.el' file:
972 (setq-default inferior-S+6-program-name
973 "c:/progra~1/Insightful/SPLUS70/cmd/Splus")
974 (setq-default inferior-Sqpe+6-SHOME-name
975 "c:/progra~1/Insightful/SPLUS70")
976 (setq-default inferior-Sqpe+6-program-name
977 "c:/progra~1/Insightful/SPLUS70/cmd/Sqpe.exe")
978 The above example uses the default location of S-PLUS in
979 `c:/progra~1/Insightful'. Please note that ESS considers S-PLUS
980 6, 7, and 8 to be variants of S+6.
982 These users may also need to modify the emacs variable
983 `ess-SHOME-versions' to match their installation in order to get
984 the full set of S-PLUS versions on their machine into the `ESS'
987 To start the S-PLUS [678].x GUI from ESS under emacs:
988 1. If you use Cygwin bash as your primary shell, then
992 2. If you use the MSDOS prompt window as your primary shell, then
994 You will then be asked for a pathname ("S starting data
995 directory?"), from which to start the process. The prompt will
996 propose your current directory as the default. ESS will start the
997 S-PLUS GUI. There will be slight delay during which emacs is
998 temporarily frozen. ESS will arrange for communication with the
999 S-PLUS GUI using the DDE protocol. Send lines or regions from the
1000 emacs buffer containing your S program (for example, `myfile.s')
1001 to the S-PLUS Commands Window with the `C-c C-n' or `C-c C-r' keys.
1002 (If you are still using S-PLUS 4.x or 2000,\ then use `M-x S+4' or
1005 To start an S-PLUS [678].x session inside an emacs buffer--and
1006 without the S-PLUS GUI:
1009 This works with both the bash and msdos shells. You will then be
1010 asked for a pathname ("S starting data directory?"), from which to
1011 start the process. The prompt will propose your current directory
1012 as the default. You get Unix-like behavior, in particular the
1013 entire transcript is available for emacs-style search commands.
1014 Send lines or regions from the emacs buffer containing your S
1015 program (for example, `myfile.s') to the *S+6* buffer with the
1016 `C-c C-n' or `C-c C-r' keys. Interactive graphics are available
1017 with Sqpe by using the java library supplied with S-PLUS 6.1 and
1018 newer releases. Enter the commands:
1021 Graphs can be saved from the `java.graph' device in several
1022 formats, but not PostScript. If you need a PostScript file you
1023 will need to open a separate `postscript' device. (If you are
1024 still using S-PLUS 4.x or 2000, then use `M-x Sqpe+4'.)
1026 To connect to an already running S-PLUS GUI (started, for example,
1027 from the S-PLUS icon):
1030 M-x S+6-msdos-existing
1031 You will then be asked for a pathname ("S starting data
1032 directory?"), from which to start the process. The prompt will
1033 propose your current directory as the default. ESS will arrange
1034 for communication with the already running S-PLUS GUI using the
1035 DDE protocol. Send lines or regions from the emacs buffer
1036 containing your S program (for example, `myfile.s') to the S-PLUS
1037 Commands Window with the `C-c C-n' or `C-c C-r' keys. (If you are
1038 still using S-PLUS 4.x or 2000, then use `M-x S+4-existing' or
1039 `M-x S+4-msdos-existing'.)
1041 If you wish to run R, you can start it with:
1044 XLispStat can not currently be run with
1046 Hopefully, this will change. However, you can still edit with
1047 emacs, and cut and paste the results into the XLispStat *Listener*
1048 Window under Microsoft Windows.
1056 Please send bug reports, suggestions etc. to
1057 <ESS-bugs@stat.math.ethz.ch>
1059 The easiest way to do this is within Emacs by typing
1061 `M-x ess-submit-bug-report'
1063 This also gives the maintainers valuable information about your
1064 installation which may help us to identify or even fix the bug.
1066 If Emacs reports an error, backtraces can help us debug the problem.
1067 Type "M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET". Then run the
1068 command that causes the error and you should see a *Backtrace* buffer
1069 containing debug information; send us that buffer.
1071 Note that comments, suggestions, words of praise and large cash
1072 donations are also more than welcome.
1077 There is a mailing list for discussions and announcements relating to
1078 ESS. Join the list by sending an e-mail with "subscribe ess-help" (or
1079 "help") in the body to <ess-help-request@stat.math.ethz.ch>;
1080 contributions to the list may be mailed to
1081 <ess-help@stat.math.ethz.ch>. Rest assured, this is a fairly
1082 low-volume mailing list.
1084 The purposes of the mailing list include
1086 * helping users of ESS to get along with it.
1088 * discussing aspects of using ESS on Emacs and XEmacs.
1090 * suggestions for improvements.
1092 * announcements of new releases of ESS.
1094 * posting small patches to ESS.
1099 * A.J. Rossini (mailto:blindglobe@gmail.com)
1101 * Richard M. Heiberger (mailto:rmh@temple.edu)
1103 * Kurt Hornik (mailto:Kurt.Hornik@R-project.org)
1105 * Martin Maechler (mailto:maechler@stat.math.ethz.ch)
1107 * Rodney A. Sparapani (mailto:rsparapa@mcw.edu)
1109 * Stephen Eglen (mailto:stephen@gnu.org)