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 5.3.5:
59 * ESS[R] add Sven Hartenstein's "R tooltip" functionality, via new
60 file `lisp/essd-r-args.el'.
62 * ESS: functions `ess-get-pdf-viewer' and *-ps-viewer; built on new
63 customizable variables ESS-PDF-VIEWER-PREF and
64 ESS-PS-VIEWER-PREF; currently used in `ess-swv-PDF' and `*-PS'.
66 Changes/New Features in 5.3.4:
67 * ESS[R] now better work with options(error=recover); and the new
68 default of CHM help files on windows.
70 * ESS[R] some more cleanup in the "sweave" functions
74 Changes/New Features in 5.3.3:
75 * ESS[S] fix buglet (5.3.2 only) which left command prompt in
76 "execute buffer" and hence help files.
78 * new customizable variable `ess-display-buffer-reuse-frames' set to
79 true (which changes default behavior) such that execution or help
82 Changes/New Features in 5.3.2:
83 * Classic BUGS now supported by `(require 'essd-bugs)' with ESS[BUGS]
84 and JAGS by `(require 'essd-jags)' with ESS[JAGS]. But,
85 only one of them can be used at a time since they don't play
86 nice together. Also, `C-c C-c' is now bound to the function
87 `ess-bugs-next-action' (`F12' has been retired). And
88 finally, note that `essl-bug.el' is deprecated and the
89 replacement is `essl-bugs.el'.
91 * ESS[R] Improved some of the "Sweave-make" functions (yet scarcely
92 documented) in `ess-swv.el'.
94 * ESS[S] No longer mess with .Last.value (nor in other "languages").
96 Changes/New Features in 5.3.1:
97 * See the docs for 2 ways to install ESS for XEmacs
98 1. by uncommenting the XEmacs part of Section 1 of
99 `Makeconf' and performing `make install'
101 2. by unpacking either `ess-5.3.1.tgz' or
103 `PREFIX/lib/xemacs/site-packages' on unix or
104 `PREFIX\XEmacs\site-packages' on windows
106 * ESS[R]: fixed bugs so that Rterm.exe can be found by XEmacs
108 * ESS[S]: `ess-toggle-S-assign-key' is slightly changed; in
109 particular, the default `ess-assign-key' is now `C-x ='.
111 * ESS[R]: `M-x R-site-search' is a new (slightly experimental)
112 utility similar to R's `RSiteSearch(..)' but with the advantage of
113 using Emacs' preferred browser, see `browse-url-browser-function'
115 Changes/New Features in 5.3.0:
116 * ESS[BUGS]: sanely re-format statistical output, `.bog', from
117 scientific notation to numbers rounded with 4 decimal places with
118 `M-x ess-bugs-sci-round-to-4-dp'.
120 * The keys for navigating among section headings in help buffers
121 worked, but only for one language per session; they should now
122 work for multiple languages. (They were also broken on Windows
125 * ESS[S] long standing buglets in the internal logic for loading
126 lisp code on Windows. Particularly fixed behavior in help mode
129 * New variable, `ess-use-inferior-program-name-in-buffer-name',
130 which enables using the executable name instead of the dialect
131 name for R. Feature request.
133 * ESS[S] `ess-execute-screen-options' now also works correctly when
134 there is more than one window *side-by-side* in the same frame and
135 runs in the correct buffer also when there is more than one S
138 * iESS[S] new functions `ess-eval-paragraph-and-step' and
139 `ess-eval-function-or-paragraph-and-step' are bound to keys `C-c
140 C-p' and `C-c C-c' respectively and to the menu in ESS-mode; also
141 bound in the help mode (for evaluating examples).
143 * ESS[S] new function `ess-toggle-S-assign-key' allows to assign the
144 " <- " insertion to an arbitrary key.
146 Changes/New Features in 5.2.12:
147 * ESS[SAS]: `M-;' fixed, but the XEmacs function `comment-dwim' may
148 be broken, if so, use `M-x comment-region' and `M-x
149 uncomment-region' instead; only valid PROCs are fontified which is
150 very helpful finding syntax errors (currently supported: BASE,
151 ETS, FSP, GRAPH, IML, INSIGHT and STAT); the "feature" where
152 `F'-keys take you to an empty buffer when the requested
153 destination is a file that does not exist has been fixed, now the
154 request results in a no-op. Further, sas-mode now also works in
157 * Rterm/Cygwin combination works under Microsoft Windows.
159 * ESS[R]: internal calls use baseenv() instead of NULL and define
160 'baseenv' where needed.
162 * New experimental support for installing ESS. See the file
163 `lisp/ess-install.el'.
165 Changes/New Features in 5.2.11:
166 * ESS Info entry and `dir' handled more effectively for GNU Emacs
169 * ESS[SAS]: temporary files created for batch submission of a region
170 are now named based on the current file; see `ess-sas-file-root'
171 for details; all `lag' and `dif' functions now fontified correctly
173 * iESS[SAS]: fixed a few nagging bugs, however, still does not
174 appear to work at this time; please let us know if you have any
177 * ESS[S]: Support for running other versions of Splus has been added
178 for unix. Two new variables, `ess-s-versions' and
179 `ess-s-versions-list', are used to tell ESS what other versions of
180 Splus you would like to run.
182 Changes/New Features in 5.2.10:
183 * ESS[R]: ess-r-versions can no longer be customized (since the
184 customization was not taking effect unless customizations were
185 loaded before ESS). Its value has been changed so that it will
186 also find R executables beginning "R-devel" and "R-patched". If
187 you wish to change this variable, it must be set in your `.emacs'
188 before ESS is loaded.
190 * Installation with GNU Make enhanced: unix and unix-like operating
191 systems will now be able to install ESS for all users in either a
192 GNU Emacs site-lisp or an XEmacs package configuration by editing
193 `lisp/ess-site.el' and `Makeconf' accordingly, then issuing `make
196 * ESS[S]: Filename completion (inside strings) now also works in
197 XEmacs for R and S-plus.
199 Changes/New Features in 5.2.9:
200 * ESS[R] for Windows: the \ directory character bug with respect to
201 ess-load-file has been eradicated.
203 * iESS[SAS]: `C-c C-r' and `C-c C-b' once again work as intended and
206 * ESS[S]: M-x ess-fix-EQ-assign is a bit more agressive.
208 * ESS[S]: Imenu now also shows setAs(), etc.
210 * ESS[R]: R function pattern enhanced with underlying code such that
211 `M-C-a' (`ess-beginning-of-function') etc now work for many more
212 cases, including S4 method definitions.
214 * iESS[R]: myOwnhelp(1) no longer wrongly triggers help(1).
216 * ESS[R]: Improved detection of bogus help buffers: valid help
217 buffers containing with the string "no documentation"(e.g. contour)
218 were being treated as bogus.
220 * ESS[R]: In R help buffers, if `options("help.try.all.packages" =
221 TRUE)' then `?rlm' will list which packages rlm is defined in.
222 This help buffer is not bogus, but instead is now relabelled
223 "*help[R](rlm in packages)*".
225 * ESS[STA]: add "//" as comment starting character to syntax-table.
227 Changes/New Features in 5.2.8:
228 * iESS: [Tab] completes *file* names "inside string" as in earlier
229 (<= 5.2.3) ESS versions.
231 Changes/New Features in 5.2.7:
232 * If you use Custom to change the variable ess-toolbar-items, the
233 new toolbar is used in all subsequent ESS buffers.
235 * ESS[SAS]: new feature: if ess-sas-log-max >0 and your .log grows
236 to more than ess-sas-log-max bytes, just the first ess-sas-log-max
237 bytes are refreshed; this is helpful when your .sas program
238 generates lots of error messages and gets too big for emacs to
241 * ESS[R/S]: `M-;' in R/S editing modes will now indent with either
242 one or two hashes depending on context.
244 * ESS[R]: David Whiting's Sweave extensions (to 'noweb') are now
245 available (from ess-swv.el loaded by default).
247 Changes/New Features in 5.2.6:
248 * Removed non-ASCII characters in a few files.
250 * ESS[R]: now works better when UTF-8 locale is active; in
251 particular, you get correct directional quotes in R's startup
252 message for R-devel (unstable development version of R 2.1.0)
253 when using environment variables LANGUAGE=en@quot
256 * ESS[SAS]: toggling of .log mode improved (`F10'); toggling of .lst
257 mode now also available (`C-F10'); killing all buffers associated
258 with .sas program no longer bound to `C-F10' since its a bit
261 * S-Plus 7 for Windows is now recognized.
263 * ESS[S] (incl. R): in auto-fill mode, strings are not wrapped
266 * ESS[S] (incl. R): font-lock now correctly differs between R and S,
267 e.g., for "_"; both now fontify warning(.) and S does terminate()
270 * Support for `bell' aka `beep' aka `ding' aka `alarm' in all
271 inferior modes: When \a is output "to the the console" at the
272 beginning of a line, the bell is rung.
274 Changes/New Features in 5.2.5:
275 * ESS[R]: `C-c C-q' or `Quit S' from the menu now should work (again
276 and less klunkily) and do not append `-exited' to the buffer name.
277 Further, the behavior of `(ess-cleanup)', called from ess-quit,
278 now depends on the new customizable variable
279 `ess-S-quit-kill-buffers-p' which defaults to `nil'.
280 Consequently, the question _"Delete all buffers associated with
281 ..?"_ will not be asked anymore by default.
283 * ESS[SAS] - ess-ebcdic-to-ascii-search-and-replace will now work
284 with the `recode' application as well which is available on many
287 * ESS[S] (incl. R): Name completion for slots of S4 objects now
290 Changes/New Features in 5.2.4:
291 * The documentation now includes an overview of how to use the emacs
292 TAGS facility for S functions. (The distribution also used to
293 contain a directory `etc/other/Tags' where a ~1990 version of
294 `etags.c' was distributed; this is no longer relevant and so has
297 * ESS[SAS] - When you are working with EBCDIC files on an ASCII
298 platform, .log NOTEs may display as gibberish since the EBCDIC
299 characters are not converted to ASCII prior to their display. So,
300 the function ess-ebcdic-to-ascii-search-and-replace is provided for
301 convenience and is bound to `C-F11'. This function requires the
302 `dd' command (only available on unix or unix-like platforms).
304 * ESS: Completion of object names is now always done dynamically
305 rather than allowing the option of using a pre-computed database
306 (by `ess-create-object-name-db') since modern computers seem fast
307 enough for dynamic completion. (We expect few users, if any, have
308 been using the pre-computed database method.)
310 * ESS: object completion in iESS buffers running on Windows was very
311 slow (for GNU Emacs, but not XEmacs) and has now been fixed.
312 Further, it was more or less broken for all versions of S-plus 6.x,
313 and has been fixed to work everywhere but with the Windows' GUI of
314 S-plus. The list of objects now shows unique names also when an
315 object appears more than once in the search path.
317 * ESS[R]: Completion of object names now also includes those
320 Changes/New Features in 5.2.3:
321 * ESS: When new inferior ESS processes are created, by default they
322 will replace the current buffer (this restores behavior from pre
323 5.2.0). If you wish new ESS processes to start in another window
324 of the current frame, set inferior-ess-same-window to nil.
326 * New variables inferior-Splus-args and inferior-R-args provide a
327 way to pass command line arguments to starting S and R processes.
329 Changes/New Features in 5.2.2:
330 * bug-fixes for 5.2.1 (require 'executable), html docs, etc.
332 * ess-lisp-directory/../doc/info added to Info-directory-list if
333 ess-info not found by info
335 * ESS[R]: If you have other versions of R on your exec-path, such as
336 "R-1.8.1" with Unix or "rw1081" with Windows, ESS will find them
337 and create appropriate functions, such as `M-x R-1.8.1' or `M-x
338 rw1081', for calling them. By default only Unix programs
339 beginning "R-1" and "R-2" and Windows programs parallel to the
340 version of R in your exec-path will be found, but see
341 ess-r-versions and ess-rterm-versions for ways to find other
344 * ESS[R]: Other versions of R, such as "R-1.8.1" on Unix and
345 "rw1081" on Windows, are added to the "ESS / Start Process /
348 * ESS[S]: If you have other versions of S-Plus on your Windows
349 computer, such as S-Plus 6.1 or S-Plus 4.5, ESS will find them and
350 create appropriate functions, such as `M-x splus61', for calling
351 the console version (Sqpe) inside an emacs buffer. By default only
352 programs installed in the default location will be found, but see
353 ess-SHOME-versions for ways to find other versions of S-Plus.
355 * ESS[S]: Other versions of Sqpe on Windows, such as "splus61", are
356 added to the "ESS / Start Process / Other" menu.
358 * ESS[R]: (bug fix) ess-quit (bound to `C-c C-q') should now quit the
359 inferior R process, when issued from either the inferior buffer,
362 Changes/New Features in 5.2.1:
363 * ESS[S] (R and S-plus): now have toolbar support with icons to
364 evaluate code in the inferior process or to switch there. This
365 code is experimental and likely to change as XEmacs/Emacs issues
366 get resolved. The toolbar should be enabled if your Emacs displays
367 images, but can be disabled with the variable ess-use-toolbar.
368 Thanks to David Smith from Insightful for the S-plus logo.
370 * ESS[SAS]: ess-sas-graph-view (`F12') enhanced; you can specify
371 external file viewers for each graphics file type via the alist
372 ess-sas-graph-view-viewer-alist; also .jpg/.gif are now handled by
373 image-mode on XEmacs, if available, otherwise by graphics
376 Changes/New Features in 5.2.0:
377 * ESS[BUGS]: new info documentation! now supports interactive
378 processing thanks to Aki Vehtari (mailto:Aki.Vehtari@hut.fi); new
379 architecture-independent unix support as well as support for BUGS
382 * ESS[SAS]: convert .log to .sas with ess-sas-transcript; info
383 documentation improved; Local Variable bug fixes; SAS/IML
384 statements/functions now highlighted; files edited remotely by
385 ange-ftp/EFS/tramp are recognized and pressing SUBMIT opens a
386 buffer on the remote host via the local variable
387 ess-sas-shell-buffer-remote-init which defaults to "ssh"; changed
388 the definition of the variable ess-sas-edit-keys-toggle to boolean
389 rather than 0/1; added the function ess-electric-run-semicolon
390 which automatically reverse indents lines containing only "run;";
391 `C-F1' creates MS RTF portrait from the current buffer; `C-F2'
392 creates MS RTF landscape from the current buffer; `C-F9' opens a
393 SAS DATASET with PROC INSIGHT rather than PROC FSVIEW; "inferior"
394 aliases for SAS batch: `C-c C-r' for submit region, `C-c C-b' for
395 submit buffer, `C-c C-x' for goto .log; `C-c C-y' for goto .lst
397 * ESS[S]: Pressing underscore ("_") once inserts " <- " (as before);
398 pressing underscore twice inserts a literal underscore. To stop
399 this smart behaviour, add "(ess-toggle-underscore nil)" to your
400 .emacs after ess-site has been loaded;
401 ess-dump-filename-template-proto (new name!) now can be customized
402 successfully (for S language dialects); Support for Imenu has been
403 improved; set ess-imenu-use-S to non-nil to get an "Imenu-S" item
404 on your menubar; ess-help: Now using nice underlines (instead of
407 * ESS[R]: After (require 'essa-r), `M-x ess-r-var' allows to load
408 numbers from any Emacs buffer into an existing *R* process; `M-x
409 ess-rdired' gives a "directory editor" of R objects; fixed
410 ess-retr-lastvalue-command, i.e. .Last.value bug (thanks to David
413 * ESS: Support for creating new window frames has been added to ESS.
414 Inferior ESS processes can be created in dedicated frames by
415 setting inferior-ess-own-frame to t. ESS help buffers can also
416 open in new frames; see the documentation for ess-help-own-frame
417 for details. (Thanks to Kevin Rodgers for contributing code.)
419 Changes/New Features in 5.1.24:
420 * The version number is now correct even inside ESS/Emacs
422 Changes/New Features in 5.1.23:
423 * Minor more Makefile clean up.
425 Changes/New Features in 5.1.22:
426 * Besides info documentation, PDF and HTML documentation are also
427 provided (instead of built using "make") and available on the web
428 as well; see ESS web page (http://ess.r-project.org/) and StatLib
429 (http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/general/ESS/doc)
431 * Now that info documentation is available, the README.* files are
432 no longer supported. However, they are still distributed for what
435 * ESS is now an XEmacs package! See XEmacs Installation HOWTO
436 (http://www.xemacs.org/Install/index.html) for details
437 (specifically, items 10-15).
439 * ESS[SAS]: more user-friendly enhancements for remote SAS batch
440 jobs with Kermit file transfers (LOG and OUTPUT function key
441 features now supported). Multiple shells now supported so you can
442 run SAS on different computers from different buffers by setting
443 the buffer-local variable ess-sas-shell-buffer to unique buffer
446 * Major re-vamping of Makefile/Makeconf.
448 Changes/New Features in 5.1.21:
449 * ESS[SAS]: info documentation now available!, see ESS->Help for
450 SAS; `F12' opens GSASFILE nearest point for viewing either within
451 emacs, when available, or via an external viewer; more syntax
452 highlighting keywords; more enhancements for remote SAS batch jobs
453 with Kermit; new framework for remote SAS interactive jobs, see
456 * ESS[S]: info documentation now available!, see ESS->Help for the S
459 * Makefile: tag now independent of rel; info files made by
460 doc/Makefile and installed in new info sub-directory
462 Changes/New Features in 5.1.20:
463 * New `options()$STERM' in the S dialects (S, S-Plus, R). The S
464 program can determine the environment in which it is currently
465 running. ESS sets the option to `iESS' or `ddeESS' when it starts
466 an S language process. We recommend other specific values for S
467 language processes that ESS does not start.
469 * New `ess-mouse-me' function, assigned to S-mouse-3 by default.
470 User may click on a word or region and then choose from the menu
471 to display the item, or a summary, or a plot, etc. This feature
472 is still under development.
474 * GNU Emacs 21.1 is now supported (fixed for S dialects, SAS & BUGS),
475 (some from Stephen Eglen).
477 * XEmacs 21.x is now supported (fixed w32-using-nt bug)
479 * XEmacs on Win (NT) is better supported.
481 * Workaround for bug in Sqpe+6 (S-PLUS 6 for Win).
483 * should now work even when imenu is not available (for old
486 * ESS[SAS]: XEmacs-Imenu fix; `C-TAB' is globalized along with your
487 function-key definitions, if specified; you can specify your SAS
488 library definitions outside of autoexec.sas for ess-sas-data-view
489 with SAS code placed in the variable ess-sas-data-view-libname,
490 also the dataset name is defaulted to the nearest permanent dataset
491 to point; Speedbar support now works for permanent datasets, please
492 ignore first./last.; new font-locking is now the default with more
493 improvements for font-locking PROCs, macro statements, * ; and %* ;
494 comments; you can toggle sas-log-mode with `F10' which will
495 font-lock your .log (if it isn't too big); submit remote .sas
496 files accessed with ange-ftp, EFS or Tramp (Kermit is
497 experimental) by setting ess-sas-submit-method to 'sh;
498 ess-sas-submit-command and ess-sas-submit-command-options are
499 buffer-local so you can have local file variable sections at the
500 end of your .sas files to request different executables or specify
501 special options and the local file variables are re-read at submit
502 instead of only at file open so that if you make a change it is
503 picked up immediately;
505 * ESS[BUGS]: font-lock with `in' fixed.
507 * for STATA: font-lock bug fixed.
509 * for Rd mode: `C-c C-v' and `switch-process' in menu. further,
510 `C-c C-f' prefix (Rd-font) for inserting or surrounding a word by
511 things such as \code{.}, \code{\link{.}}, \emph{.} etc.
513 * new functions (ess-directory-function) and (ess-narrow-to-defun)
514 ess-directory <-> default-directory logic (Jeff Mincy).
516 * Re-organized Makefile and fixed a few bugs.
518 Changes/New Features in 5.1.19:
519 * S+6 now supported (Tony Rossini (Unix) and Rich Heiberger
522 * New BUGS support through ESS[BUGS] mode (Rodney Sparapani)
523 Templates assist you in writing .bug and .cmd code (.cmd and .log
524 are replaced by .bmd and .bog to avoid emacs extension collisions).
525 Substitution" parameters facilitate "automagic" generation of
526 data...in" and "init...in" filenames, "const N=" from your data
527 file and "monitor()/stats()" commands. Activated by pressing
530 * Fixes for `ess-smart-underscore' SAS breakage (Rich Heiberger)
532 * You can change between PC and Unix, local and global SAS
533 function-key definitions interactively (Rich Heiberger)
535 * `C-Submit' a highlighted region to SAS batch (Rodney Sparapani)
537 * New and improved SAS syntax highlighting (Rodney Sparapani) To get
538 the new functionality, set ess-sas-run-make-regexp to nil. Also
539 available in .log files via `F10'.
541 * Open a permanent SAS dataset for viewing via `F9' (Rodney
542 Sparapani) You must have the library defined in autoexec.sas for
545 * User-friendly defaults for `sas-program',
546 `ess-sas-batch-pre-command' and `ess-sas-batch-post-command' as
547 well Customize support for these and other ESS[SAS] variables
550 * `ess-sas-suffix-2' now defaults to .dat via `F11' (Rodney
553 * Emacs/XEmacs, Unix/Windows issues collectively handled in
556 * defadvice solves problem of missing *ESS* (thanks to Jeff Mincy)
558 * Improved manual a bit by including things that were only in
561 Changes/New Features in 5.1.18:
562 * New `ess-smart-underscore' function, now assigned to "_" by
563 default. Inserts `ess-S-assign' (customizable " <- "), unless
564 inside string and comments where plain "_" is used instead. (MM)
566 * Fixes for longstanding interactive SAS breakage (RMH)
568 Changes/New Features in 5.1.17:
569 * Documentation for Windows Installation (Rich Heiberger)
571 * removal of ess-vars, finalization of customize support (in the
572 sense that there is no more use of ess-vars, but that we need to
573 fix ess-cust) (AJ Rossini)
575 * Many small (and large) fixes/contributions (MMaechler)
577 * addition of the "S-equal" variable and provide `M-x
578 ess-add-MM-keys' a way to remap "_" to `ess-S-assign', typically "
579 <- ", but customizable. (MMaechler)
581 Changes/New Features in 5.1.16:
586 Changes/New Features in 5.1.15:
589 Changes/New Features in 5.1.14:
590 * Yet more fixes to SAS mode, (Rich Heiberger and Rodney Sparapani)
592 * Customize support (for most Emacsen which support it) (AJRossini)
594 * ARC and ViSta support out of the box, and fixes for XLispStat
597 Changes/New Features in 5.1.13:
598 * Version numbering finally all depending on the ./VERSION file,
599 thanks to Martin Maechler.
601 * Yet more fixes to SAS mode, thanks to Rich Heiberger.
603 Changes/New Features in 5.1.12:
604 * Splus 5.1 stabilized, thanks to Martin Maechler, Bill Venables,
605 Chuck Taylor, and others.
607 * More fixes to SAS mode, thanks to Rodney Sparapani and Rich
610 Changes/New Features in 5.1.11:
611 * More fixes to Stata mode, thanks to Brendan Halpin
612 (mailto:brendan@essex.ac.uk).
614 * fixed bugs in ESS-elsewhere, thanks to many testers
616 * README.SPLUS4WIN has DETAILED instructions for S-PLUS 2000, thanks
617 to David Brahm (mailto:brahm@alum.mit.edu).
619 * Fixes to SAS mode, thanks to Rodney Sparapani
621 Changes/New Features in 5.1.10:
622 * More fixes to Stata mode
624 * primitive generic version of ESS-elsewhere
626 * Small fixes to SAS/Stata.
628 Changes/New Features in 5.1.9:
631 * Literate Data Analysis using Noweb works
633 Changes/New Features in 5.1.8:
636 * R documentation mode defaults changed
638 Changes/New Features in 5.1.2:
639 * able to use inferior iESS mode to communicate directly with a
640 running S-Plus 4.x process using the Microsoft DDE protocol. We
641 use the familiar (from Unix ESS) `C-c C-n' and related key
642 sequences to send lines from the S-mode file to the inferior S
643 process. We continue to edit S input files in ESS[S] mode and
644 transcripts of previous S sessions in ESS Transcript mode. All
645 three modes know the S language, syntax, and indentation patterns
646 and provide the syntactic highlighting that eases the programming
652 * Languages Supported:
653 * S family (S 3/4, S-PLUS 3.x/4.x/5.x/6.x/7.x/8.x, and R)
661 * XLispStat including Arc and ViSta
663 * Editing source code (S family, SAS, BUGS/JAGS, XLispStat)
664 * Syntactic indentation and highlighting of source code
666 * Partial evaluation of code
668 * Loading and error-checking of code
670 * Source code revision maintenance
672 * Batch execution (SAS, BUGS/JAGS)
674 * Use of imenu to provide links to appropriate functions
676 * Interacting with the process (S family, SAS, XLispStat)
677 * Command-line editing
679 * Searchable Command history
681 * Command-line completion of S family object names and file
684 * Quick access to object lists and search lists
686 * Transcript recording
688 * Interface to the help system
690 * Transcript manipulation (S family, XLispStat)
691 * Recording and saving transcript files
693 * Manipulating and editing saved transcripts
695 * Re-evaluating commands from transcript files
697 * Help File Editing (R)
698 * Syntactic indentation and highlighting of source code.
700 * Sending Examples to running ESS process.
707 Versions 5.3.x are meant to be release-quality versions. While some
708 new features are being introduced, we are cleaning up and improving the
709 interface. We know about some remaining documentation inconsistencies.
710 Patches or suggested fixes with bug reports are much appreciated!
715 ESS has been tested with
719 * S-PLUS 3.3-4, 4.5, 2000, 5.0-1, 6.0-2, 7.0, 8.0
733 on the following platforms
739 * Microsoft Windows 98/NT/2000/XP (R, SPLUS 4.5/2000/6.0-2/7.0/8.0,
742 * Apple Mac OS X 10.3-4 (R, JAGS)
744 with the following versions of emacs
746 * GNU Emacs 20.3-7, 21.1, 21.3-4, 22.0.50-pretesting
748 * XEmacs 21.4.0-8, 21.4.9-13(1), 21.4.14-15, 21.4.17-19, 21.5.23
750 ---------- Footnotes ----------
752 (1) require the files.el patch to revert-buffer for the Local
753 Variables updating problem
755 1.7 Getting the Latest Version
756 ==============================
758 The latest released version of ESS is always available on the web at:
759 ESS web page (http://ess.r-project.org) or StatLib
760 (http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/general/ESS/)
762 The latest development version of ESS is available via
763 `https://svn.R-project.org/ESS/', the ESS Subversion repository. If
764 you have a Subversion client (see `http://subversion.tigris.org/'), you
765 can download the sources using:
766 % svn checkout https://svn.r-project.org/ESS/trunk PATH
767 which will put the ESS files into directory PATH. Later, within
768 that directory, `svn update' will bring that directory up to date.
769 Windows-based tools such as TortoiseSVN are also available for
770 downloading the files. Alternatively, you can browse the sources with a
771 web browser at: ESS SVN site (https://svn.r-project.org/ESS/trunk).
772 However, please use a subversion client instead to minimize the load
775 If you remove other versions of ESS from your emacs load-path, you
776 can then use the development version by adding the following to .emacs:
778 (load "/path/to/ess-svn/lisp/ess-site.el")
780 Note that https is required, and that the SSL certificate for the
781 Subversion server of the R project is
783 Certificate information:
784 - Hostname: svn.r-project.org
785 - Valid: from Jul 16 08:10:01 2004 GMT until Jul 14 08:10:01 2014 GMT
786 - Issuer: Department of Mathematics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, CH
787 - Fingerprint: c9:5d:eb:f9:f2:56:d1:04:ba:44:61:f8:64:6b:d9:33:3f:93:6e:ad
789 (currently, there is no "trusted certificate"). You can accept this
790 certificate permanently and will not be asked about it anymore.
792 1.8 Installation (from tar file)
793 ================================
795 1.9 Unix installation
796 =====================
798 1. `cd' to a directory where you keep emacs lisp files, or create a
799 new directory (for example, `$HOME/emacs') to hold the
800 distribution. This directory will be referred to below as "the
801 ESS distribution directory".
803 _Note for XEmacs packages:_ ESS is no longer available as an
804 XEmacs package. But, you can still install ESS into the XEmacs
805 package system by choosing
806 `ESSDIR'=`PREFIX/lib/xemacs/site-packages'. ESS requires that the
807 XEmacs sumo tarball (all XEmacs packages combined) also be
808 installed. For information on installing XEmacs packages, follow
809 this link: Quickstart Package Guide
810 (http://www.xemacs.org/Documentation/packageGuide.html).
812 2. Retrieve the latest version from ESS downloads area
813 (http://ess.r-project.org/downloads/ess) to `ESSDIR'.
815 3. Extract the files from the disribution.
816 If you are using GNU tar, `tar zxf ess-VERSION.tgz'.
817 Otherwise, `gunzip < ess-VERSION.tgz | tar xf -',
819 The `tar' command will create the subdirectory `ess-VERSION' and
820 install the files there.
822 4. Edit the file `ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site.el' as explained
823 in the comments section of that file.
825 5. If you are using GNU Emacs add the line
826 (load "ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site")
827 to `$HOME/.emacs'. For XEmacs, if you followed the XEmacs package
828 system installation advice, add the line
830 to `$HOME/.xemacs/init.el'. Otherwise, for XEmacs, add the line
831 (load "ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site")
832 to `$HOME/.xemacs/init.el'.
834 6. That's it! ESS is now ready to use. (The remaining step below is
835 only for a custom installation.) To edit statistical programs,
836 just open files with the requisite extensions (`.R' for R, `.sas'
837 for SAS, `.bug' for BUGS, etc.). To start a statistical process
838 within emacs, such as R, type `M-x R'.
840 7. (OPTIONAL) READ THIS ITEM THOROUGHLY BEFORE STARTING:
842 If you want to place the compiled files in other locations edit the
843 `LISPDIR', `INFODIR' and `ETCDIR' entries in Section 1 of
844 `Makeconf' in the `ESSDIR/ess-VERSION' directory (if you are using
845 XEmacs, then uncomment the XEmacs subsection in Section 1).
847 You can compile those files by:
850 When that completes successfully, install the compiled files:
854 1.10 Microsoft Windows installation
855 ===================================
857 For Microsoft Windows installation, please follow the next steps.
859 1. `cd' to a directory where you keep emacs lisp files, or create a
860 new directory (for example, `c:\emacs\') to hold the distribution.
861 This directory will be referred to below as "the ESS distribution
864 _Note for XEmacs packages:_ ESS is no longer available as an XEmacs
865 package. But, you can still install ESS into the XEmacs package
866 system by choosing `ESSDIR'=`PREFIX\XEmacs\site-packages'. ESS
867 requires that the XEmacs sumo tarball (all XEmacs packages
868 combined) also be installed. For information on installing XEmacs
869 packages, follow this link: Quickstart Package Guide
870 (http://www.xemacs.org/Documentation/packageGuide.html).
872 2. Retrieve the latest zip file (`ess-VERSION.zip') from ESS
873 downloads area (http://ess.r-project.org/downloads/ess) and store
874 it in the ESS distribution directory. Be aware that http browsers
875 on Windows frequently change the "." and "-" characters in
876 filenames to other punctuation. Please change the names back to
879 3. Extract all the files from `ess-VERSION.zip' into the ESS
880 distribution directory as `c:\emacs\ess-VERSION\'. (It is possible
881 to unpack the zip archive in Windows Explorer by double clicking
882 on the folder; you should then see a new folder called
883 `ess-VERSION'. Drag that folder into your ESS distribution
886 4. If you are using GNU Emacs add the line
887 (load "ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site")
888 to `%HOME%/.emacs'. For XEmacs, if you followed the XEmacs
889 package system installation advice, add the line
891 to `%HOME%/.xemacs/init.el'. Otherwise, for XEmacs, add the line
892 (load "ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site")
893 to `%HOME%/.xemacs/init.el'. _Note:_ Both GNU Emacs and XEmacs
894 require that the HOME environment variable be set on your system,
895 otherwise, your initialization file will not be utilized, and
896 therefore, ESS will not work.
898 After saving your initialization file, ESS is now installed.
899 Start a new emacs and you should be ready to use ESS. For
900 example, to edit statistical programs, load the files with the
901 requisite extensions (".sas" for SAS, ".S" or "s" or "q" or "Q"
902 for S-PLUS, ".r" or ".R" for R, and ".lsp" for XLispStat). One
903 further step is needed if you wish to run statistical processes,
906 5. To run statistical processes under ESS, Windows users will need to
907 make sure that the directories for the software they will be using
908 is in the PATH environment variable. On Windows 9x, add lines
909 similar to the following to your `c:\autoexec.bat' file:
910 path=%PATH%;c:\progra~1\insightful\splus70\cmd
911 On Windows NT/2000/XP, add the directories to the PATH using the
912 `My Computer/Control Panel/System/Advanced/Environment Variables'
913 menu. Note that the directory containing the program is added to
914 the PATH, not the program itself. One such line is needed for
915 each software program. Be sure to use the abbreviation `progra~1'
916 and not the long version with embedded blanks. Use backslashes
919 An alternative, for R users, is that rather than adjusting the PATH
920 variable, you can add the following to your emacs initialization
921 file (and restart emacs):
922 (setq inferior-R-program-name "C:/progra~1/R/R-2.2.1/bin/Rterm.exe")
923 This assumes that you have installed R-2.2.1 in the default
924 location. Change the path otherwise to point to other locations.
926 Windows users who place S-PLUS anywhere other than the default
927 location will also need to add the following three lines (properly
928 adjusted for their location) to their `%HOME%/.emacs' or
929 `%HOME%/.xemacs/init.el' file:
930 (setq-default inferior-S+6-program-name
931 "c:/progra~1/Insightful/SPLUS70/cmd/Splus")
932 (setq-default inferior-Sqpe+6-SHOME-name
933 "c:/progra~1/Insightful/SPLUS70")
934 (setq-default inferior-Sqpe+6-program-name
935 "c:/progra~1/Insightful/SPLUS70/cmd/Sqpe.exe")
936 The above example uses the default location of S-PLUS in
937 `c:/progra~1/Insightful'. Please note that ESS considers S-PLUS
938 6, 7, and 8 to be variants of S+6.
940 These users may also need to modify the emacs variable
941 `ess-SHOME-versions' to match their installation in order to get
942 the full set of S-PLUS versions on their machine into the `ESS'
945 To start the S-PLUS [678].x GUI from ESS under emacs:
946 1. If you use Cygwin bash as your primary shell, then
950 2. If you use the MSDOS prompt window as your primary shell, then
952 You will then be asked for a pathname ("S starting data
953 directory?"), from which to start the process. The prompt will
954 propose your current directory as the default. ESS will start the
955 S-PLUS GUI. There will be slight delay during which emacs is
956 temporarily frozen. ESS will arrange for communication with the
957 S-PLUS GUI using the DDE protocol. Send lines or regions from the
958 emacs buffer containing your S program (for example, `myfile.s')
959 to the S-PLUS Commands Window with the `C-c C-n' or `C-c C-r' keys.
960 (If you are still using S-PLUS 4.x or 2000,\ then use `M-x S+4' or
963 To start an S-PLUS [678].x session inside an emacs buffer--and
964 without the S-PLUS GUI:
967 This works with both the bash and msdos shells. You will then be
968 asked for a pathname ("S starting data directory?"), from which to
969 start the process. The prompt will propose your current directory
970 as the default. You get Unix-like behavior, in particular the
971 entire transcript is available for emacs-style search commands.
972 Send lines or regions from the emacs buffer containing your S
973 program (for example, `myfile.s') to the *S+6* buffer with the
974 `C-c C-n' or `C-c C-r' keys. Interactive graphics are available
975 with Sqpe by using the java library supplied with S-PLUS 6.1 and
976 newer releases. Enter the commands:
979 Graphs can be saved from the `java.graph' device in several
980 formats, but not PostScript. If you need a PostScript file you
981 will need to open a separate `postscript' device. (If you are
982 still using S-PLUS 4.x or 2000, then use `M-x Sqpe+4'.)
984 To connect to an already running S-PLUS GUI (started, for example,
985 from the S-PLUS icon):
988 M-x S+6-msdos-existing
989 You will then be asked for a pathname ("S starting data
990 directory?"), from which to start the process. The prompt will
991 propose your current directory as the default. ESS will arrange
992 for communication with the already running S-PLUS GUI using the
993 DDE protocol. Send lines or regions from the emacs buffer
994 containing your S program (for example, `myfile.s') to the S-PLUS
995 Commands Window with the `C-c C-n' or `C-c C-r' keys. (If you are
996 still using S-PLUS 4.x or 2000, then use `M-x S+4-existing' or
997 `M-x S+4-msdos-existing'.)
999 If you wish to run R, you can start it with:
1002 XLispStat can not currently be run with
1004 Hopefully, this will change. However, you can still edit with
1005 emacs, and cut and paste the results into the XLispStat *Listener*
1006 Window under Microsoft Windows.
1014 Please send bug reports, suggestions etc. to
1015 <ESS-bugs@stat.math.ethz.ch>
1017 The easiest way to do this is within Emacs by typing
1019 `M-x ess-submit-bug-report'
1021 This also gives the maintainers valuable information about your
1022 installation which may help us to identify or even fix the bug.
1024 If Emacs reports an error, backtraces can help us debug the problem.
1025 Type "M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET". Then run the
1026 command that causes the error and you should see a *Backtrace* buffer
1027 containing debug information; send us that buffer.
1029 Note that comments, suggestions, words of praise and large cash
1030 donations are also more than welcome.
1035 There is a mailing list for discussions and announcements relating to
1036 ESS. Join the list by sending an e-mail with "subscribe ess-help" (or
1037 "help") in the body to <ess-help-request@stat.math.ethz.ch>;
1038 contributions to the list may be mailed to
1039 <ess-help@stat.math.ethz.ch>. Rest assured, this is a fairly
1040 low-volume mailing list.
1042 The purposes of the mailing list include
1044 * helping users of ESS to get along with it.
1046 * discussing aspects of using ESS on Emacs and XEmacs.
1048 * suggestions for improvements.
1050 * announcements of new releases of ESS.
1052 * posting small patches to ESS.
1057 * A.J. Rossini (mailto:blindglobe@gmail.com)
1059 * Richard M. Heiberger (mailto:rmh@temple.edu)
1061 * Kurt Hornik (mailto:Kurt.Hornik@R-project.org)
1063 * Martin Maechler (mailto:maechler@stat.math.ethz.ch)
1065 * Rodney A. Sparapani (mailto:rsparapa@mcw.edu)
1067 * Stephen Eglen (mailto:stephen@gnu.org)