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.
49 Changes/New Features in 5.2.12:
50 * ESS[SAS]: `M-;' fixed, but the XEmacs function `comment-dwim' may
51 be broken, if so, use `M-x comment-region' and `M-x
52 uncomment-region' instead; only valid PROCs are fontified which is
53 very helpful finding syntax errors (currently supported: BASE,
54 ETS, FSP, GRAPH, IML, INSIGHT and STAT).
56 * Rterm/Cygwin combination works under Microsoft Windows.
58 * ESS[R]: internal calls use baseenv() instead of NULL and define
59 'baseenv' where needed.
61 Changes/New Features in 5.2.11:
62 * ESS Info entry and `dir' handled more effectively for GNU Emacs
65 * ESS[SAS]: temporary files created for batch submission of a region
66 are now named based on the current file; see `ess-sas-file-root'
67 for details; all `lag' and `dif' functions now fontified correctly
69 * iESS[SAS]: fixed a few nagging bugs, however, still does not
70 appear to work at this time; please let us know if you have any
73 * ESS[S]: Support for running other versions of Splus has been added
74 for unix. Two new variables, `ess-s-versions' and
75 `ess-s-versions-list', are used to tell ESS what other versions of
76 Splus you would like to run.
78 Changes/New Features in 5.2.10:
79 * ESS[R]: ess-r-versions can no longer be customized (since the
80 customization was not taking effect unless customizations were
81 loaded before ESS). Its value has been changed so that it will
82 also find R executables beginning "R-devel" and "R-patched". If
83 you wish to change this variable, it must be set in your `.emacs'
86 * Installation with GNU Make enhanced: unix and unix-like operating
87 systems will now be able to install ESS for all users in either a
88 GNU Emacs site-lisp or an XEmacs package configuration by editing
89 `lisp/ess-site.el' and `Makeconf' accordingly, then issuing `make
92 * ESS[S]: Filename completion (inside strings) now also works in
93 XEmacs for R and S-plus.
95 Changes/New Features in 5.2.9:
96 * ESS[R] for Windows: the \ directory character bug with respect to
97 ess-load-file has been eradicated.
99 * iESS[SAS]: `C-c C-r' and `C-c C-b' once again work as intended and
102 * ESS[S]: M-x ess-fix-EQ-assign is a bit more agressive.
104 * ESS[S]: Imenu now also shows setAs(), etc.
106 * ESS[R]: R function pattern enhanced with underlying code such that
107 `M-C-a' (`ess-beginning-of-function') etc now work for many more
108 cases, including S4 method definitions.
110 * iESS[R]: myOwnhelp(1) no longer wrongly triggers help(1).
112 * ESS[R]: Improved detection of bogus help buffers: valid help
113 buffers containing with the string "no documentation"(e.g. contour)
114 were being treated as bogus.
116 * ESS[R]: In R help buffers, if `options("help.try.all.packages" =
117 TRUE)' then `?rlm' will list which packages rlm is defined in.
118 This help buffer is not bogus, but instead is now relabelled
119 "*help[R](rlm in packages)*".
121 * ESS[STA]: add "//" as comment starting character to syntax-table.
123 Changes/New Features in 5.2.8:
124 * iESS: [Tab] completes *file* names "inside string" as in earlier
125 (<= 5.2.3) ESS versions.
127 Changes/New Features in 5.2.7:
128 * If you use Custom to change the variable ess-toolbar-items, the
129 new toolbar is used in all subsequent ESS buffers.
131 * ESS[SAS]: new feature: if ess-sas-log-max >0 and your .log grows
132 to more than ess-sas-log-max bytes, just the first ess-sas-log-max
133 bytes are refreshed; this is helpful when your .sas program
134 generates lots of error messages and gets too big for emacs to
137 * ESS[R/S]: `M-;' in R/S editing modes will now indent with either
138 one or two hashes depending on context.
140 * ESS[R]: David Whiting's Sweave extensions (to 'noweb') are now
141 available (from ess-swv.el loaded by default).
143 Changes/New Features in 5.2.6:
144 * Removed non-ASCII characters in a few files.
146 * ESS[R]: now works better when UTF-8 locale is active; in
147 particular, you get correct directional quotes in R's startup
148 message for R-devel (unstable development version of R 2.1.0)
149 when using environment variables LANGUAGE=en@quot
152 * ESS[SAS]: toggling of .log mode improved (`F10'); toggling of .lst
153 mode now also available (`C-F10'); killing all buffers associated
154 with .sas program no longer bound to `C-F10' since its a bit
157 * S-Plus 7 for Windows is now recognized.
159 * ESS[S] (incl. R): in auto-fill mode, strings are not wrapped
162 * ESS[S] (incl. R): font-lock now correctly differs between R and S,
163 e.g., for "_"; both now fontify warning(.) and S does terminate()
166 * Support for `bell' aka `beep' aka `ding' aka `alarm' in all
167 inferior modes: When \a is output "to the the console" at the
168 beginning of a line, the bell is rung.
170 Changes/New Features in 5.2.5:
171 * ESS[R]: `C-c C-q' or `Quit S' from the menu now should work (again
172 and less klunkily) and do not append `-exited' to the buffer name.
173 Further, the behavior of `(ess-cleanup)', called from ess-quit,
174 now depends on the new customizable variable
175 `ess-S-quit-kill-buffers-p' which defaults to `nil'.
176 Consequently, the question _"Delete all buffers associated with
177 ..?"_ will not be asked anymore by default.
179 * ESS[SAS] - ess-ebcdic-to-ascii-search-and-replace will now work
180 with the `recode' application as well which is available on many
183 * ESS[S] (incl. R): Name completion for slots of S4 objects now
186 Changes/New Features in 5.2.4:
187 * The documentation now includes an overview of how to use the emacs
188 TAGS facility for S functions. (The distribution also used to
189 contain a directory `etc/other/Tags' where a ~1990 version of
190 `etags.c' was distributed; this is no longer relevant and so has
193 * ESS[SAS] - When you are working with EBCDIC files on an ASCII
194 platform, .log NOTEs may display as gibberish since the EBCDIC
195 characters are not converted to ASCII prior to their display. So,
196 the function ess-ebcdic-to-ascii-search-and-replace is provided for
197 convenience and is bound to `C-F11'. This function requires the
198 `dd' command (only available on unix or unix-like platforms).
200 * ESS: Completion of object names is now always done dynamically
201 rather than allowing the option of using a pre-computed database
202 (by `ess-create-object-name-db') since modern computers seem fast
203 enough for dynamic completion. (We expect few users, if any, have
204 been using the pre-computed database method.)
206 * ESS: object completion in iESS buffers running on Windows was very
207 slow (for GNU Emacs, but not XEmacs) and has now been fixed.
208 Further, it was more or less broken for all versions of S-plus 6.x,
209 and has been fixed to work everywhere but with the Windows' GUI of
210 S-plus. The list of objects now shows unique names also when an
211 object appears more than once in the search path.
213 * ESS[R]: Completion of object names now also includes those
216 Changes/New Features in 5.2.3:
217 * ESS: When new inferior ESS processes are created, by default they
218 will replace the current buffer (this restores behavior from pre
219 5.2.0). If you wish new ESS processes to start in another window
220 of the current frame, set inferior-ess-same-window to nil.
222 * New variables inferior-Splus-args and inferior-R-args provide a
223 way to pass command line arguments to starting S and R processes.
225 Changes/New Features in 5.2.2:
226 * bug-fixes for 5.2.1 (require 'executable), html docs, etc.
228 * ess-lisp-directory/../doc/info added to Info-directory-list if
229 ess-info not found by info
231 * ESS[R]: If you have other versions of R on your exec-path, such as
232 "R-1.8.1" with Unix or "rw1081" with Windows, ESS will find them
233 and create appropriate functions, such as `M-x R-1.8.1' or `M-x
234 rw1081', for calling them. By default only Unix programs
235 beginning "R-1" and "R-2" and Windows programs parallel to the
236 version of R in your exec-path will be found, but see
237 ess-r-versions and ess-rterm-versions for ways to find other
240 * ESS[R]: Other versions of R, such as "R-1.8.1" on Unix and
241 "rw1081" on Windows, are added to the "ESS / Start Process /
244 * ESS[S]: If you have other versions of S-Plus on your Windows
245 computer, such as S-Plus 6.1 or S-Plus 4.5, ESS will find them and
246 create appropriate functions, such as `M-x splus61', for calling
247 the console version (Sqpe) inside an emacs buffer. By default only
248 programs installed in the default location will be found, but see
249 ess-SHOME-versions for ways to find other versions of S-Plus.
251 * ESS[S]: Other versions of Sqpe on Windows, such as "splus61", are
252 added to the "ESS / Start Process / Other" menu.
254 * ESS[R]: (bug fix) ess-quit (bound to `C-c C-q') should now quit the
255 inferior R process, when issued from either the inferior buffer,
258 Changes/New Features in 5.2.1:
259 * ESS[S] (R and S-plus): now have toolbar support with icons to
260 evaluate code in the inferior process or to switch there. This
261 code is experimental and likely to change as XEmacs/Emacs issues
262 get resolved. The toolbar should be enabled if your Emacs displays
263 images, but can be disabled with the variable ess-use-toolbar.
264 Thanks to David Smith from Insightful for the S-plus logo.
266 * ESS[SAS]: ess-sas-graph-view (`F12') enhanced; you can specify
267 external file viewers for each graphics file type via the alist
268 ess-sas-graph-view-viewer-alist; also .jpg/.gif are now handled by
269 image-mode on XEmacs, if available, otherwise by graphics
272 Changes/New Features in 5.2.0:
273 * ESS[BUGS]: new info documentation! now supports interactive
274 processing thanks to Aki Vehtari (mailto:Aki.Vehtari@hut.fi); new
275 architecture-independent unix support as well as support for BUGS
278 * ESS[SAS]: convert .log to .sas with ess-sas-transcript; info
279 documentation improved; Local Variable bug fixes; SAS/IML
280 statements/functions now highlighted; files edited remotely by
281 ange-ftp/EFS/tramp are recognized and pressing SUBMIT opens a
282 buffer on the remote host via the local variable
283 ess-sas-shell-buffer-remote-init which defaults to "ssh"; changed
284 the definition of the variable ess-sas-edit-keys-toggle to boolean
285 rather than 0/1; added the function ess-electric-run-semicolon
286 which automatically reverse indents lines containing only "run;";
287 `C-F1' creates MS RTF portrait from the current buffer; `C-F2'
288 creates MS RTF landscape from the current buffer; `C-F9' opens a
289 SAS DATASET with PROC INSIGHT rather than PROC FSVIEW; "inferior"
290 aliases for SAS batch: `C-c C-r' for submit region, `C-c C-b' for
291 submit buffer, `C-c C-x' for goto .log; `C-c C-y' for goto .lst
293 * ESS[S]: Pressing underscore ("_") once inserts " <- " (as before);
294 pressing underscore twice inserts a literal underscore. To stop
295 this smart behaviour, add "(ess-toggle-underscore nil)" to your
296 .emacs after ess-site has been loaded;
297 ess-dump-filename-template-proto (new name!) now can be customized
298 successfully (for S language dialects); Support for Imenu has been
299 improved; set ess-imenu-use-S to non-nil to get an "Imenu-S" item
300 on your menubar; ess-help: Now using nice underlines (instead of
303 * ESS[R]: After (require 'essa-r), `M-x ess-r-var' allows to load
304 numbers from any Emacs buffer into an existing *R* process; `M-x
305 ess-rdired' gives a "directory editor" of R objects; fixed
306 ess-retr-lastvalue-command, i.e. .Last.value bug (thanks to David
309 * ESS: Support for creating new window frames has been added to ESS.
310 Inferior ESS processes can be created in dedicated frames by
311 setting inferior-ess-own-frame to t. ESS help buffers can also
312 open in new frames; see the documentation for ess-help-own-frame
313 for details. (Thanks to Kevin Rodgers for contributing code.)
315 Changes/New Features in 5.1.24:
316 * The version number is now correct even inside ESS/Emacs
318 Changes/New Features in 5.1.23:
319 * Minor more Makefile clean up.
321 Changes/New Features in 5.1.22:
322 * Besides info documentation, PDF and HTML documentation are also
323 provided (instead of built using "make") and available on the web
324 as well; see ESS web page (http://ess.r-project.org/) and StatLib
325 (http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/general/ESS/doc)
327 * Now that info documentation is available, the README.* files are
328 no longer supported. However, they are still distributed for what
331 * ESS is now an XEmacs package! See XEmacs Installation HOWTO
332 (http://www.xemacs.org/Install/index.html) for details
333 (specifically, items 10-15).
335 * ESS[SAS]: more user-friendly enhancements for remote SAS batch
336 jobs with Kermit file transfers (LOG and OUTPUT function key
337 features now supported). Multiple shells now supported so you can
338 run SAS on different computers from different buffers by setting
339 the buffer-local variable ess-sas-shell-buffer to unique buffer
342 * Major re-vamping of Makefile/Makeconf.
344 Changes/New Features in 5.1.21:
345 * ESS[SAS]: info documentation now available!, see ESS->Help for
346 SAS; `F12' opens GSASFILE nearest point for viewing either within
347 emacs, when available, or via an external viewer; more syntax
348 highlighting keywords; more enhancements for remote SAS batch jobs
349 with Kermit; new framework for remote SAS interactive jobs, see
352 * ESS[S]: info documentation now available!, see ESS->Help for the S
355 * Makefile: tag now independent of rel; info files made by
356 doc/Makefile and installed in new info sub-directory
358 Changes/New Features in 5.1.20:
359 * New `options()$STERM' in the S dialects (S, S-Plus, R). The S
360 program can determine the environment in which it is currently
361 running. ESS sets the option to `iESS' or `ddeESS' when it starts
362 an S language process. We recommend other specific values for S
363 language processes that ESS does not start.
365 * New `ess-mouse-me' function, assigned to S-mouse-3 by default.
366 User may click on a word or region and then choose from the menu
367 to display the item, or a summary, or a plot, etc. This feature
368 is still under development.
370 * GNU Emacs 21.1 is now supported (fixed for S dialects, SAS & BUGS),
371 (some from Stephen Eglen).
373 * XEmacs 21.x is now supported (fixed w32-using-nt bug)
375 * XEmacs on Win (NT) is better supported.
377 * Workaround for bug in Sqpe+6 (S-PLUS 6 for Win).
379 * should now work even when imenu is not available (for old
382 * ESS[SAS]: XEmacs-Imenu fix; `C-TAB' is globalized along with your
383 function-key definitions, if specified; you can specify your SAS
384 library definitions outside of autoexec.sas for ess-sas-data-view
385 with SAS code placed in the variable ess-sas-data-view-libname,
386 also the dataset name is defaulted to the nearest permanent dataset
387 to point; Speedbar support now works for permanent datasets, please
388 ignore first./last.; new font-locking is now the default with more
389 improvements for font-locking PROCs, macro statements, * ; and %* ;
390 comments; you can toggle sas-log-mode with `F10' which will
391 font-lock your .log (if it isn't too big); submit remote .sas
392 files accessed with ange-ftp, EFS or Tramp (Kermit is
393 experimental) by setting ess-sas-submit-method to 'sh;
394 ess-sas-submit-command and ess-sas-submit-command-options are
395 buffer-local so you can have local file variable sections at the
396 end of your .sas files to request different executables or specify
397 special options and the local file variables are re-read at submit
398 instead of only at file open so that if you make a change it is
399 picked up immediately;
401 * ESS[BUGS]: font-lock with `in' fixed.
403 * for STATA: font-lock bug fixed.
405 * for Rd mode: `C-c C-v' and `switch-process' in menu. further,
406 `C-c C-f' prefix (Rd-font) for inserting or surrounding a word by
407 things such as \code{.}, \code{\link{.}}, \emph{.} etc.
409 * new functions (ess-directory-function) and (ess-narrow-to-defun)
410 ess-directory <-> default-directory logic (Jeff Mincy).
412 * Re-organized Makefile and fixed a few bugs.
414 Changes/New Features in 5.1.19:
415 * S+6 now supported (Tony Rossini (Unix) and Rich Heiberger
418 * New BUGS support through ESS[BUGS] mode (Rodney Sparapani)
419 Templates assist you in writing .bug and .cmd code (.cmd and .log
420 are replaced by .bmd and .bog to avoid emacs extension collisions).
421 Substitution" parameters facilitate "automagic" generation of
422 data...in" and "init...in" filenames, "const N=" from your data
423 file and "monitor()/stats()" commands. Activated by pressing
426 * Fixes for `ess-smart-underscore' SAS breakage (Rich Heiberger)
428 * You can change between PC and Unix, local and global SAS
429 function-key definitions interactively (Rich Heiberger)
431 * `C-Submit' a highlighted region to SAS batch (Rodney Sparapani)
433 * New and improved SAS syntax highlighting (Rodney Sparapani) To get
434 the new functionality, set ess-sas-run-make-regexp to nil. Also
435 available in .log files via `F10'.
437 * Open a permanent SAS dataset for viewing via `F9' (Rodney
438 Sparapani) You must have the library defined in autoexec.sas for
441 * User-friendly defaults for `sas-program',
442 `ess-sas-batch-pre-command' and `ess-sas-batch-post-command' as
443 well Customize support for these and other ESS[SAS] variables
446 * `ess-sas-suffix-2' now defaults to .dat via `F11' (Rodney
449 * Emacs/XEmacs, Unix/Windows issues collectively handled in
452 * defadvice solves problem of missing *ESS* (thanks to Jeff Mincy)
454 * Improved manual a bit by including things that were only in
457 Changes/New Features in 5.1.18:
458 * New `ess-smart-underscore' function, now assigned to "_" by
459 default. Inserts `ess-S-assign' (customizable " <- "), unless
460 inside string and comments where plain "_" is used instead. (MM)
462 * Fixes for longstanding interactive SAS breakage (RMH)
464 Changes/New Features in 5.1.17:
465 * Documentation for Windows Installation (Rich Heiberger)
467 * removal of ess-vars, finalization of customize support (in the
468 sense that there is no more use of ess-vars, but that we need to
469 fix ess-cust) (AJ Rossini)
471 * Many small (and large) fixes/contributions (MMaechler)
473 * addition of the "S-equal" variable and provide `M-x
474 ess-add-MM-keys' a way to remap "_" to `ess-S-assign', typically "
475 <- ", but customizable. (MMaechler)
477 Changes/New Features in 5.1.16:
482 Changes/New Features in 5.1.15:
485 Changes/New Features in 5.1.14:
486 * Yet more fixes to SAS mode, (Rich Heiberger and Rodney Sparapani)
488 * Customize support (for most Emacsen which support it) (AJRossini)
490 * ARC and ViSta support out of the box, and fixes for XLispStat
493 Changes/New Features in 5.1.13:
494 * Version numbering finally all depending on the ./VERSION file,
495 thanks to Martin Maechler.
497 * Yet more fixes to SAS mode, thanks to Rich Heiberger.
499 Changes/New Features in 5.1.12:
500 * Splus 5.1 stabilized, thanks to Martin Maechler, Bill Venables,
501 Chuck Taylor, and others.
503 * More fixes to SAS mode, thanks to Rodney Sparapani and Rich
506 Changes/New Features in 5.1.11:
507 * More fixes to Stata mode, thanks to Brendan Halpin
508 (mailto:brendan@essex.ac.uk).
510 * fixed bugs in ESS-elsewhere, thanks to many testers
512 * README.SPLUS4WIN has DETAILED instructions for S-PLUS 2000, thanks
513 to David Brahm (mailto:brahm@alum.mit.edu).
515 * Fixes to SAS mode, thanks to Rodney Sparapani
517 Changes/New Features in 5.1.10:
518 * More fixes to Stata mode
520 * primitive generic version of ESS-elsewhere
522 * Small fixes to SAS/Stata.
524 Changes/New Features in 5.1.9:
527 * Literate Data Analysis using Noweb works
529 Changes/New Features in 5.1.8:
532 * R documentation mode defaults changed
534 Changes/New Features in 5.1.2:
535 * able to use inferior iESS mode to communicate directly with a
536 running S-Plus 4.x process using the Microsoft DDE protocol. We
537 use the familiar (from Unix ESS) `C-c C-n' and related key
538 sequences to send lines from the S-mode file to the inferior S
539 process. We continue to edit S input files in ESS[S] mode and
540 transcripts of previous S sessions in ESS Transcript mode. All
541 three modes know the S language, syntax, and indentation patterns
542 and provide the syntactic highlighting that eases the programming
548 * Languages Supported:
549 * S family (S 3/4, S-PLUS 3.x/4.x/5.x/6.x/7.x, and R)
557 * XLispStat including Arc and ViSta
559 * Editing source code (S family, SAS, BUGS, XLispStat)
560 * Syntactic indentation and highlighting of source code
562 * Partial evaluation of code
564 * Loading and error-checking of code
566 * Source code revision maintenance
568 * Batch execution (SAS, BUGS)
570 * Use of imenu to provide links to appropriate functions
572 * Interacting with the process (S family, SAS, XLispStat)
573 * Command-line editing
575 * Searchable Command history
577 * Command-line completion of S family object names and file
580 * Quick access to object lists and search lists
582 * Transcript recording
584 * Interface to the help system
586 * Transcript manipulation (S family, XLispStat)
587 * Recording and saving transcript files
589 * Manipulating and editing saved transcripts
591 * Re-evaluating commands from transcript files
593 * Help File Editing (R)
594 * Syntactic indentation and highlighting of source code.
596 * Sending Examples to running ESS process.
603 Versions 5.2.x are meant to be release-quality versions. While some
604 new features are being introduced, we are cleaning up and improving the
605 interface. We know about some remaining documentation inconsistencies.
606 Patches or suggested fixes with bug reports are much appreciated!
611 ESS has been tested with
615 * S-PLUS 3.3-4, 4.5, 5.0-1, 6.0-2, 7.0, 2000
627 on the following platforms
631 * Solaris/SunOS (all)
633 * Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP (R, SPLUS 4.5/6.0-2/7.0/2000,
636 * Apple Mac OS (SAS for OS 9 and R for OS X)
638 with the following versions of emacs
640 * GNU Emacs 20.3-7, 21.1, 21.3-4, 22.0.50-pretesting
642 * XEmacs 21.0, 21.1.13-14, 21.4.0-8, 21.4.9-13(1), 21.4.14-15,
645 ---------- Footnotes ----------
647 (1) require the files.el patch to revert-buffer for the Local
648 Variables updating problem
650 1.6 Getting the Latest Version
651 ==============================
653 The latest released version of ESS is always available on the web at:
654 ESS web page (http://ess.r-project.org) or StatLib
655 (http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/general/ESS/)
657 The latest development version of ESS is available via
658 `https://svn.R-project.org/ESS/', the ESS Subversion repository. If
659 you have a Subversion client (see `http://subversion.tigris.org/'), you
660 can download the sources using:
661 % svn checkout https://svn.r-project.org/ESS/trunk PATH
662 which will put the ESS files into directory PATH. Later, within
663 that directory, `svn update' will bring that directory up to date.
664 Windows-based tools such as TortoiseSVN are also available for
665 downloading the files. Alternatively, you can browse the sources with a
666 web browser at: ESS SVN site (https://svn.r-project.org/ESS/trunk).
667 However, please use a subversion client instead to minimize the load
670 If you remove other versions of ESS from your emacs load-path, you
671 can then use the development version by adding the following to .emacs:
673 (load "/path/to/ess-svn/lisp/ess-site.el")
675 Note that https is required, and that the SSL certificate for the
676 Subversion server of the R project is
678 Certificate information:
679 - Hostname: svn.r-project.org
680 - Valid: from Jul 16 08:10:01 2004 GMT until Jul 14 08:10:01 2014 GMT
681 - Issuer: Department of Mathematics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, CH
682 - Fingerprint: c9:5d:eb:f9:f2:56:d1:04:ba:44:61:f8:64:6b:d9:33:3f:93:6e:ad
684 (currently, there is no "trusted certificate"). You can accept this
685 certificate permanently and will not be asked about it anymore.
687 1.7 Installation (from tar file)
688 ================================
690 We now discuss installation, which might happen under Unix or Microsoft
691 Windows. First, we discuss Unix installation. *Note Unix
694 For Microsoft Windows Installation please skip to the *Note
695 Microsoft Windows installation::.
697 1.8 Unix installation
698 =====================
700 1. `cd' to a directory where you want to install ESS, creating it if
701 necessary. This directory will be referred to below as `ESSDIR'.
703 2. Retrieve the latest version from ESS downloads area
704 (http://ess.r-project.org/downloads/ess) to `ESSDIR'.
706 3. Decompress/unarchive the files from the disribution.
707 Either, `gunzip < ess-VERSION.tar.gz | tar xf -',
708 or using GNU tar, `tar zxf ess-VERSION.tar.gz'.
710 The `tar' command will create the subdirectory `ess-VERSION' and
711 install the files there.
713 4. Edit the file `ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site.el' as explained
714 in the comments section of that file.
717 (load "ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site")
718 to your user or system installation file (GNU Emacs uses
719 `$HOME/.emacs' and XEmacs uses `$HOME/.xemacs/init.el' for the
720 user initialization file. GNU Emacs uses `default.el' or
721 `site-init.el' and XEmacs uses `site-start.el' for the system
724 Alternatively, if `ess-site.el' is in your current `load-path',
727 to configure emacs for ESS.
729 6. That's it! If you are installing just a local copy of ESS for
730 yourself, ESS is now ready to be used. (The remaining step below
731 is for advanced installation.) To edit statistical programs, load
732 the files with the requiste extensions (`.sas' for SAS, `.S' for
733 S-PLUS, `.R' for R, and `.lsp' for XLispStat). To start a
734 statistical process within emacs, such as R, type `M-x R'.
736 7. (OPTIONAL) READ THIS ITEM THOROUGHLY BEFORE STARTING:
738 If you want to place the compiled files in other locations edit the
739 `LISPDIR', `INFODIR' and `ETCDIR' entries in Section 1 of
740 `Makeconf' in the `ESSDIR/ess-VERSION' directory (if you are using
741 XEmacs, then see the XEmacs subsection in Section 1 of `Makeconf').
743 You can compile those files by:
746 When that completes successfully, install the compiled files:
749 _Note:_ ESS is no longer available as an XEmacs package. However,
750 ESS will work best if the XEmacs sumo tarball (all XEmacs packages
751 combined) has been installed. For more information on installing
752 XEmacs packages, see Quickstart Package Guide
753 (http://www.xemacs.org/Documentation/packageGuide.html).
756 1.9 Microsoft Windows installation
757 ==================================
759 For Microsoft Windows installation, please follow the next steps: (see
760 separate instructions above for UNIX *Note Unix installation::.
762 1. `cd' to a directory where you keep emacs lisp files, or create a
763 new directory (for example, `c:\emacs\') to hold the distribution.
764 This directory will be referred to below as "the ESS distribution
767 2. Retrieve the latest zip file (`ess-VERSION.zip') from ESS
768 downloads area (http://ess.r-project.org/downloads/ess) and store
769 it in the ESS distribution directory. Be aware that http browsers
770 on Windows frequently change the "." and "-" characters in
771 filenames to other punctuation. Please change the names back to
774 3. Extract all the files from `ess-VERSION.zip' into the ESS
775 distribution directory. In Windows Explorer, you can unpack the
776 archive by double clicking on the folder; you should then see a
777 new folder called `ess-VERSION'. Drag that folder into your ESS
778 distribution directory.
781 (load "C:/emacs/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site")
782 to your emacs initialization file. (GNU Emacs uses the filename
783 `~/.emacs' and XEmacs uses the filename `~/.xemacs/init.el' for
784 the initialization file. The tilde is recognised by emacs as your
785 HOME directory, i.e. the value of your HOME environment variable.)
786 Replace `VERSION' above with the version number of ESS. Remember
787 to use forwardslashes `/' rather than `\\' in your filename.
789 After saving your initialization file, ESS is now installed.
790 Start a new emacs and you should be ready to use ESS. For
791 example, to edit statistical programs, load the files with the
792 requisite extensions (".sas" for SAS, ".S" or "s" or "q" or "Q"
793 for S-PLUS, ".r" or ".R" for R, and ".lsp" for XLispStat). One
794 further step is needed if you wish to run statistical processes,
797 5. To run statistical processes under ESS, Windows users will need to
798 make sure that the directories for the software they will be using
799 is in the PATH environment variable. On Windows 9x, add lines
800 similar to the following to your `c:\autoexec.bat' file:
801 path=%PATH%;c:\progra~1\insightful\splus70\cmd
802 On Windows NT/2000/XP, add the directories to the PATH using the
803 `My Computer/Control Panel/System/Advanced/Environment Variables'
804 menu. Note that the directory containing the program is added to
805 the PATH, not the program itself. One such line is needed for
806 each software program. Be sure to use the abbreviation `progra~1'
807 and not the long version with embedded blanks. Use backslashes
810 An alternative, for R users, is that rather than adjusting the PATH
811 variable, you can add the following to your emacs initialization
812 file (and restart emacs):
813 (setq inferior-R-program-name "C:/progra~1/R/R-2.2.1/bin/Rterm.exe")
814 This assumes that you have installed R-2.2.1 in the default
815 location. Change the path otherwise to point to other locations.
817 To start the S-PLUS [67].x GUI from ESS under emacs:
820 You will then be asked for a pathname ("S starting data
821 directory?"), from which to start the process. The prompt will
822 propose your current directory as the default. ESS will start the
823 S-PLUS GUI. There will be slight delay during which emacs is
824 temporarily frozen. ESS will arrange for communication with the
825 S-PLUS GUI using the DDE protocol. Send lines or regions from the
826 emacs buffer containing your S program (for example, `myfile.s')
827 to the S-PLUS Commands Window with the `C-c C-n' or `C-c C-r' keys.
828 (If you are still using S-PLUS 4.x or 2000, then use `M-x S+4'.)
830 To start an S-PLUS [67].x session inside an emacs buffer--and
831 without the S-PLUS GUI:
834 You will then be asked for a pathname ("S starting data
835 directory?"), from which to start the process. The prompt will
836 propose your current directory as the default. You get Unix-like
837 behavior, in particular the entire transcript is available for
838 emacs-style search commands. Send lines or regions from the emacs
839 buffer containing your S program (for example, `myfile.s') to the
840 *S+6* buffer with the `C-c C-n' or `C-c C-r' keys. Interactive
841 graphics are available with Sqpe by using the java library
842 supplied with S-PLUS 6.1 and newer releases. Enter the commands:
845 Graphs can be saved from the `java.graph' device in several
846 formats, but not PostScript. If you need a PostScript file you
847 will need to open a separate `postscript' device. (If you are
848 still using S-PLUS 4.x or 2000, then use `M-x Sqpe+4'.)
850 To connect to an already running S-PLUS GUI (started, for example,
851 from the S-PLUS icon):
853 You will then be asked for a pathname ("S starting data
854 directory?"), from which to start the process. The prompt will
855 propose your current directory as the default. ESS will arrange
856 for communication with the already running S-PLUS GUI using the
857 DDE protocol. Send lines or regions from the emacs buffer
858 containing your S program (for example, `myfile.s') to the S-PLUS
859 Commands Window with the `C-c C-n' or `C-c C-r' keys. (If you are
860 still using S-PLUS 4.x or 2000, then use `M-x S+4-existing'.)
862 If you wish to run R, you can start it with:
865 XLispStat can not currently be run with
867 Hopefully, this will change. However, you can still edit with
868 emacs, and cut and paste the results into the XLispStat *Listener*
869 Window under Microsoft Windows.
877 Please send bug reports, suggestions etc. to
878 <ESS-bugs@stat.math.ethz.ch>
880 The easiest way to do this is within Emacs by typing
882 `M-x ess-submit-bug-report'
884 This also gives the maintainers valuable information about your
885 installation which may help us to identify or even fix the bug.
887 If Emacs reports an error, backtraces can help us debug the problem.
888 Type "M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET". Then run the
889 command that causes the error and you should see a *Backtrace* buffer
890 containing debug information; send us that buffer.
892 Note that comments, suggestions, words of praise and large cash
893 donations are also more than welcome.
898 There is a mailing list for discussions and announcements relating to
899 ESS. Join the list by sending an e-mail with "subscribe ess-help" (or
900 "help") in the body to <ess-help-request@stat.math.ethz.ch>;
901 contributions to the list may be mailed to
902 <ess-help@stat.math.ethz.ch>. Rest assured, this is a fairly
903 low-volume mailing list.
905 The purposes of the mailing list include
907 * helping users of ESS to get along with it.
909 * discussing aspects of using ESS on Emacs and XEmacs.
911 * suggestions for improvements.
913 * announcements of new releases of ESS.
915 * posting small patches to ESS.
920 * A.J. Rossini (mailto:blindglobe@gmail.com)
922 * Richard M. Heiberger (mailto:rmh@temple.edu)
924 * Kurt Hornik (mailto:Kurt.Hornik@R-project.org)
926 * Martin Maechler (mailto:maechler@stat.math.ethz.ch)
928 * Rodney A. Sparapani (mailto:rsparapa@mcw.edu)
930 * Stephen Eglen (mailto:stephen@gnu.org)