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 5.3.1:
59 * See the docs for 2 ways to install ESS for XEmacs
60 1. by uncommenting the XEmacs part of Section 1 of
61 `Makeconf' and performing `make install'
63 2. by unpacking either `ess-5.3.1.tgz' or
65 `PREFIX/lib/xemacs/site-packages' on unix or
66 `PREFIX\XEmacs\site-packages' on windows
68 * ESS[R]: fixed bugs so that Rterm.exe can be found by XEmacs
70 * ESS[S]: `ess-toggle-S-assign-key' is slightly changed; in
71 particular, the default `ess-assign-key' is now `C-x ='.
73 * ESS[R]: `M-x R-site-search' is a new (slightly experimental)
74 utility similar to R's `RSiteSearch(..)' but with the advantage of
75 using Emacs' preferred browser, see `browse-url-browser-function'
77 Changes/New Features in 5.3.0:
78 * ESS[BUGS]: sanely re-format statistical output, `.bog', from
79 scientific notation to numbers rounded with 4 decimal places with
80 `M-x ess-bugs-sci-round-to-4-dp'.
82 * The keys for navigating among section headings in help buffers
83 worked, but only for one language per session; they should now
84 work for multiple languages. (They were also broken on Windows
87 * ESS[S] long standing buglets in the internal logic for loading
88 lisp code on Windows. Particularly fixed behavior in help mode
91 * New variable, `ess-use-inferior-program-name-in-buffer-name',
92 which enables using the executable name instead of the dialect
93 name for R. Feature request.
95 * ESS[S] `ess-execute-screen-options' now also works correctly when
96 there is more than one window *side-by-side* in the same frame and
97 runs in the correct buffer also when there is more than one S
100 * iESS[S] new functions `ess-eval-paragraph-and-step' and
101 `ess-eval-function-or-paragraph-and-step' are bound to keys `C-c
102 C-p' and `C-c C-c' respectively and to the menu in ESS-mode; also
103 bound in the help mode (for evaluating examples).
105 * ESS[S] new function `ess-toggle-S-assign-key' allows to assign the
106 " <- " insertion to an arbitrary key.
108 Changes/New Features in 5.2.12:
109 * ESS[SAS]: `M-;' fixed, but the XEmacs function `comment-dwim' may
110 be broken, if so, use `M-x comment-region' and `M-x
111 uncomment-region' instead; only valid PROCs are fontified which is
112 very helpful finding syntax errors (currently supported: BASE,
113 ETS, FSP, GRAPH, IML, INSIGHT and STAT); the "feature" where
114 `F'-keys take you to an empty buffer when the requested
115 destination is a file that does not exist has been fixed, now the
116 request results in a no-op. Further, sas-mode now also works in
119 * Rterm/Cygwin combination works under Microsoft Windows.
121 * ESS[R]: internal calls use baseenv() instead of NULL and define
122 'baseenv' where needed.
124 * New experimental support for installing ESS. See the file
125 `lisp/ess-install.el'.
127 Changes/New Features in 5.2.11:
128 * ESS Info entry and `dir' handled more effectively for GNU Emacs
131 * ESS[SAS]: temporary files created for batch submission of a region
132 are now named based on the current file; see `ess-sas-file-root'
133 for details; all `lag' and `dif' functions now fontified correctly
135 * iESS[SAS]: fixed a few nagging bugs, however, still does not
136 appear to work at this time; please let us know if you have any
139 * ESS[S]: Support for running other versions of Splus has been added
140 for unix. Two new variables, `ess-s-versions' and
141 `ess-s-versions-list', are used to tell ESS what other versions of
142 Splus you would like to run.
144 Changes/New Features in 5.2.10:
145 * ESS[R]: ess-r-versions can no longer be customized (since the
146 customization was not taking effect unless customizations were
147 loaded before ESS). Its value has been changed so that it will
148 also find R executables beginning "R-devel" and "R-patched". If
149 you wish to change this variable, it must be set in your `.emacs'
150 before ESS is loaded.
152 * Installation with GNU Make enhanced: unix and unix-like operating
153 systems will now be able to install ESS for all users in either a
154 GNU Emacs site-lisp or an XEmacs package configuration by editing
155 `lisp/ess-site.el' and `Makeconf' accordingly, then issuing `make
158 * ESS[S]: Filename completion (inside strings) now also works in
159 XEmacs for R and S-plus.
161 Changes/New Features in 5.2.9:
162 * ESS[R] for Windows: the \ directory character bug with respect to
163 ess-load-file has been eradicated.
165 * iESS[SAS]: `C-c C-r' and `C-c C-b' once again work as intended and
168 * ESS[S]: M-x ess-fix-EQ-assign is a bit more agressive.
170 * ESS[S]: Imenu now also shows setAs(), etc.
172 * ESS[R]: R function pattern enhanced with underlying code such that
173 `M-C-a' (`ess-beginning-of-function') etc now work for many more
174 cases, including S4 method definitions.
176 * iESS[R]: myOwnhelp(1) no longer wrongly triggers help(1).
178 * ESS[R]: Improved detection of bogus help buffers: valid help
179 buffers containing with the string "no documentation"(e.g. contour)
180 were being treated as bogus.
182 * ESS[R]: In R help buffers, if `options("help.try.all.packages" =
183 TRUE)' then `?rlm' will list which packages rlm is defined in.
184 This help buffer is not bogus, but instead is now relabelled
185 "*help[R](rlm in packages)*".
187 * ESS[STA]: add "//" as comment starting character to syntax-table.
189 Changes/New Features in 5.2.8:
190 * iESS: [Tab] completes *file* names "inside string" as in earlier
191 (<= 5.2.3) ESS versions.
193 Changes/New Features in 5.2.7:
194 * If you use Custom to change the variable ess-toolbar-items, the
195 new toolbar is used in all subsequent ESS buffers.
197 * ESS[SAS]: new feature: if ess-sas-log-max >0 and your .log grows
198 to more than ess-sas-log-max bytes, just the first ess-sas-log-max
199 bytes are refreshed; this is helpful when your .sas program
200 generates lots of error messages and gets too big for emacs to
203 * ESS[R/S]: `M-;' in R/S editing modes will now indent with either
204 one or two hashes depending on context.
206 * ESS[R]: David Whiting's Sweave extensions (to 'noweb') are now
207 available (from ess-swv.el loaded by default).
209 Changes/New Features in 5.2.6:
210 * Removed non-ASCII characters in a few files.
212 * ESS[R]: now works better when UTF-8 locale is active; in
213 particular, you get correct directional quotes in R's startup
214 message for R-devel (unstable development version of R 2.1.0)
215 when using environment variables LANGUAGE=en@quot
218 * ESS[SAS]: toggling of .log mode improved (`F10'); toggling of .lst
219 mode now also available (`C-F10'); killing all buffers associated
220 with .sas program no longer bound to `C-F10' since its a bit
223 * S-Plus 7 for Windows is now recognized.
225 * ESS[S] (incl. R): in auto-fill mode, strings are not wrapped
228 * ESS[S] (incl. R): font-lock now correctly differs between R and S,
229 e.g., for "_"; both now fontify warning(.) and S does terminate()
232 * Support for `bell' aka `beep' aka `ding' aka `alarm' in all
233 inferior modes: When \a is output "to the the console" at the
234 beginning of a line, the bell is rung.
236 Changes/New Features in 5.2.5:
237 * ESS[R]: `C-c C-q' or `Quit S' from the menu now should work (again
238 and less klunkily) and do not append `-exited' to the buffer name.
239 Further, the behavior of `(ess-cleanup)', called from ess-quit,
240 now depends on the new customizable variable
241 `ess-S-quit-kill-buffers-p' which defaults to `nil'.
242 Consequently, the question _"Delete all buffers associated with
243 ..?"_ will not be asked anymore by default.
245 * ESS[SAS] - ess-ebcdic-to-ascii-search-and-replace will now work
246 with the `recode' application as well which is available on many
249 * ESS[S] (incl. R): Name completion for slots of S4 objects now
252 Changes/New Features in 5.2.4:
253 * The documentation now includes an overview of how to use the emacs
254 TAGS facility for S functions. (The distribution also used to
255 contain a directory `etc/other/Tags' where a ~1990 version of
256 `etags.c' was distributed; this is no longer relevant and so has
259 * ESS[SAS] - When you are working with EBCDIC files on an ASCII
260 platform, .log NOTEs may display as gibberish since the EBCDIC
261 characters are not converted to ASCII prior to their display. So,
262 the function ess-ebcdic-to-ascii-search-and-replace is provided for
263 convenience and is bound to `C-F11'. This function requires the
264 `dd' command (only available on unix or unix-like platforms).
266 * ESS: Completion of object names is now always done dynamically
267 rather than allowing the option of using a pre-computed database
268 (by `ess-create-object-name-db') since modern computers seem fast
269 enough for dynamic completion. (We expect few users, if any, have
270 been using the pre-computed database method.)
272 * ESS: object completion in iESS buffers running on Windows was very
273 slow (for GNU Emacs, but not XEmacs) and has now been fixed.
274 Further, it was more or less broken for all versions of S-plus 6.x,
275 and has been fixed to work everywhere but with the Windows' GUI of
276 S-plus. The list of objects now shows unique names also when an
277 object appears more than once in the search path.
279 * ESS[R]: Completion of object names now also includes those
282 Changes/New Features in 5.2.3:
283 * ESS: When new inferior ESS processes are created, by default they
284 will replace the current buffer (this restores behavior from pre
285 5.2.0). If you wish new ESS processes to start in another window
286 of the current frame, set inferior-ess-same-window to nil.
288 * New variables inferior-Splus-args and inferior-R-args provide a
289 way to pass command line arguments to starting S and R processes.
291 Changes/New Features in 5.2.2:
292 * bug-fixes for 5.2.1 (require 'executable), html docs, etc.
294 * ess-lisp-directory/../doc/info added to Info-directory-list if
295 ess-info not found by info
297 * ESS[R]: If you have other versions of R on your exec-path, such as
298 "R-1.8.1" with Unix or "rw1081" with Windows, ESS will find them
299 and create appropriate functions, such as `M-x R-1.8.1' or `M-x
300 rw1081', for calling them. By default only Unix programs
301 beginning "R-1" and "R-2" and Windows programs parallel to the
302 version of R in your exec-path will be found, but see
303 ess-r-versions and ess-rterm-versions for ways to find other
306 * ESS[R]: Other versions of R, such as "R-1.8.1" on Unix and
307 "rw1081" on Windows, are added to the "ESS / Start Process /
310 * ESS[S]: If you have other versions of S-Plus on your Windows
311 computer, such as S-Plus 6.1 or S-Plus 4.5, ESS will find them and
312 create appropriate functions, such as `M-x splus61', for calling
313 the console version (Sqpe) inside an emacs buffer. By default only
314 programs installed in the default location will be found, but see
315 ess-SHOME-versions for ways to find other versions of S-Plus.
317 * ESS[S]: Other versions of Sqpe on Windows, such as "splus61", are
318 added to the "ESS / Start Process / Other" menu.
320 * ESS[R]: (bug fix) ess-quit (bound to `C-c C-q') should now quit the
321 inferior R process, when issued from either the inferior buffer,
324 Changes/New Features in 5.2.1:
325 * ESS[S] (R and S-plus): now have toolbar support with icons to
326 evaluate code in the inferior process or to switch there. This
327 code is experimental and likely to change as XEmacs/Emacs issues
328 get resolved. The toolbar should be enabled if your Emacs displays
329 images, but can be disabled with the variable ess-use-toolbar.
330 Thanks to David Smith from Insightful for the S-plus logo.
332 * ESS[SAS]: ess-sas-graph-view (`F12') enhanced; you can specify
333 external file viewers for each graphics file type via the alist
334 ess-sas-graph-view-viewer-alist; also .jpg/.gif are now handled by
335 image-mode on XEmacs, if available, otherwise by graphics
338 Changes/New Features in 5.2.0:
339 * ESS[BUGS]: new info documentation! now supports interactive
340 processing thanks to Aki Vehtari (mailto:Aki.Vehtari@hut.fi); new
341 architecture-independent unix support as well as support for BUGS
344 * ESS[SAS]: convert .log to .sas with ess-sas-transcript; info
345 documentation improved; Local Variable bug fixes; SAS/IML
346 statements/functions now highlighted; files edited remotely by
347 ange-ftp/EFS/tramp are recognized and pressing SUBMIT opens a
348 buffer on the remote host via the local variable
349 ess-sas-shell-buffer-remote-init which defaults to "ssh"; changed
350 the definition of the variable ess-sas-edit-keys-toggle to boolean
351 rather than 0/1; added the function ess-electric-run-semicolon
352 which automatically reverse indents lines containing only "run;";
353 `C-F1' creates MS RTF portrait from the current buffer; `C-F2'
354 creates MS RTF landscape from the current buffer; `C-F9' opens a
355 SAS DATASET with PROC INSIGHT rather than PROC FSVIEW; "inferior"
356 aliases for SAS batch: `C-c C-r' for submit region, `C-c C-b' for
357 submit buffer, `C-c C-x' for goto .log; `C-c C-y' for goto .lst
359 * ESS[S]: Pressing underscore ("_") once inserts " <- " (as before);
360 pressing underscore twice inserts a literal underscore. To stop
361 this smart behaviour, add "(ess-toggle-underscore nil)" to your
362 .emacs after ess-site has been loaded;
363 ess-dump-filename-template-proto (new name!) now can be customized
364 successfully (for S language dialects); Support for Imenu has been
365 improved; set ess-imenu-use-S to non-nil to get an "Imenu-S" item
366 on your menubar; ess-help: Now using nice underlines (instead of
369 * ESS[R]: After (require 'essa-r), `M-x ess-r-var' allows to load
370 numbers from any Emacs buffer into an existing *R* process; `M-x
371 ess-rdired' gives a "directory editor" of R objects; fixed
372 ess-retr-lastvalue-command, i.e. .Last.value bug (thanks to David
375 * ESS: Support for creating new window frames has been added to ESS.
376 Inferior ESS processes can be created in dedicated frames by
377 setting inferior-ess-own-frame to t. ESS help buffers can also
378 open in new frames; see the documentation for ess-help-own-frame
379 for details. (Thanks to Kevin Rodgers for contributing code.)
381 Changes/New Features in 5.1.24:
382 * The version number is now correct even inside ESS/Emacs
384 Changes/New Features in 5.1.23:
385 * Minor more Makefile clean up.
387 Changes/New Features in 5.1.22:
388 * Besides info documentation, PDF and HTML documentation are also
389 provided (instead of built using "make") and available on the web
390 as well; see ESS web page (http://ess.r-project.org/) and StatLib
391 (http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/general/ESS/doc)
393 * Now that info documentation is available, the README.* files are
394 no longer supported. However, they are still distributed for what
397 * ESS is now an XEmacs package! See XEmacs Installation HOWTO
398 (http://www.xemacs.org/Install/index.html) for details
399 (specifically, items 10-15).
401 * ESS[SAS]: more user-friendly enhancements for remote SAS batch
402 jobs with Kermit file transfers (LOG and OUTPUT function key
403 features now supported). Multiple shells now supported so you can
404 run SAS on different computers from different buffers by setting
405 the buffer-local variable ess-sas-shell-buffer to unique buffer
408 * Major re-vamping of Makefile/Makeconf.
410 Changes/New Features in 5.1.21:
411 * ESS[SAS]: info documentation now available!, see ESS->Help for
412 SAS; `F12' opens GSASFILE nearest point for viewing either within
413 emacs, when available, or via an external viewer; more syntax
414 highlighting keywords; more enhancements for remote SAS batch jobs
415 with Kermit; new framework for remote SAS interactive jobs, see
418 * ESS[S]: info documentation now available!, see ESS->Help for the S
421 * Makefile: tag now independent of rel; info files made by
422 doc/Makefile and installed in new info sub-directory
424 Changes/New Features in 5.1.20:
425 * New `options()$STERM' in the S dialects (S, S-Plus, R). The S
426 program can determine the environment in which it is currently
427 running. ESS sets the option to `iESS' or `ddeESS' when it starts
428 an S language process. We recommend other specific values for S
429 language processes that ESS does not start.
431 * New `ess-mouse-me' function, assigned to S-mouse-3 by default.
432 User may click on a word or region and then choose from the menu
433 to display the item, or a summary, or a plot, etc. This feature
434 is still under development.
436 * GNU Emacs 21.1 is now supported (fixed for S dialects, SAS & BUGS),
437 (some from Stephen Eglen).
439 * XEmacs 21.x is now supported (fixed w32-using-nt bug)
441 * XEmacs on Win (NT) is better supported.
443 * Workaround for bug in Sqpe+6 (S-PLUS 6 for Win).
445 * should now work even when imenu is not available (for old
448 * ESS[SAS]: XEmacs-Imenu fix; `C-TAB' is globalized along with your
449 function-key definitions, if specified; you can specify your SAS
450 library definitions outside of autoexec.sas for ess-sas-data-view
451 with SAS code placed in the variable ess-sas-data-view-libname,
452 also the dataset name is defaulted to the nearest permanent dataset
453 to point; Speedbar support now works for permanent datasets, please
454 ignore first./last.; new font-locking is now the default with more
455 improvements for font-locking PROCs, macro statements, * ; and %* ;
456 comments; you can toggle sas-log-mode with `F10' which will
457 font-lock your .log (if it isn't too big); submit remote .sas
458 files accessed with ange-ftp, EFS or Tramp (Kermit is
459 experimental) by setting ess-sas-submit-method to 'sh;
460 ess-sas-submit-command and ess-sas-submit-command-options are
461 buffer-local so you can have local file variable sections at the
462 end of your .sas files to request different executables or specify
463 special options and the local file variables are re-read at submit
464 instead of only at file open so that if you make a change it is
465 picked up immediately;
467 * ESS[BUGS]: font-lock with `in' fixed.
469 * for STATA: font-lock bug fixed.
471 * for Rd mode: `C-c C-v' and `switch-process' in menu. further,
472 `C-c C-f' prefix (Rd-font) for inserting or surrounding a word by
473 things such as \code{.}, \code{\link{.}}, \emph{.} etc.
475 * new functions (ess-directory-function) and (ess-narrow-to-defun)
476 ess-directory <-> default-directory logic (Jeff Mincy).
478 * Re-organized Makefile and fixed a few bugs.
480 Changes/New Features in 5.1.19:
481 * S+6 now supported (Tony Rossini (Unix) and Rich Heiberger
484 * New BUGS support through ESS[BUGS] mode (Rodney Sparapani)
485 Templates assist you in writing .bug and .cmd code (.cmd and .log
486 are replaced by .bmd and .bog to avoid emacs extension collisions).
487 Substitution" parameters facilitate "automagic" generation of
488 data...in" and "init...in" filenames, "const N=" from your data
489 file and "monitor()/stats()" commands. Activated by pressing
492 * Fixes for `ess-smart-underscore' SAS breakage (Rich Heiberger)
494 * You can change between PC and Unix, local and global SAS
495 function-key definitions interactively (Rich Heiberger)
497 * `C-Submit' a highlighted region to SAS batch (Rodney Sparapani)
499 * New and improved SAS syntax highlighting (Rodney Sparapani) To get
500 the new functionality, set ess-sas-run-make-regexp to nil. Also
501 available in .log files via `F10'.
503 * Open a permanent SAS dataset for viewing via `F9' (Rodney
504 Sparapani) You must have the library defined in autoexec.sas for
507 * User-friendly defaults for `sas-program',
508 `ess-sas-batch-pre-command' and `ess-sas-batch-post-command' as
509 well Customize support for these and other ESS[SAS] variables
512 * `ess-sas-suffix-2' now defaults to .dat via `F11' (Rodney
515 * Emacs/XEmacs, Unix/Windows issues collectively handled in
518 * defadvice solves problem of missing *ESS* (thanks to Jeff Mincy)
520 * Improved manual a bit by including things that were only in
523 Changes/New Features in 5.1.18:
524 * New `ess-smart-underscore' function, now assigned to "_" by
525 default. Inserts `ess-S-assign' (customizable " <- "), unless
526 inside string and comments where plain "_" is used instead. (MM)
528 * Fixes for longstanding interactive SAS breakage (RMH)
530 Changes/New Features in 5.1.17:
531 * Documentation for Windows Installation (Rich Heiberger)
533 * removal of ess-vars, finalization of customize support (in the
534 sense that there is no more use of ess-vars, but that we need to
535 fix ess-cust) (AJ Rossini)
537 * Many small (and large) fixes/contributions (MMaechler)
539 * addition of the "S-equal" variable and provide `M-x
540 ess-add-MM-keys' a way to remap "_" to `ess-S-assign', typically "
541 <- ", but customizable. (MMaechler)
543 Changes/New Features in 5.1.16:
548 Changes/New Features in 5.1.15:
551 Changes/New Features in 5.1.14:
552 * Yet more fixes to SAS mode, (Rich Heiberger and Rodney Sparapani)
554 * Customize support (for most Emacsen which support it) (AJRossini)
556 * ARC and ViSta support out of the box, and fixes for XLispStat
559 Changes/New Features in 5.1.13:
560 * Version numbering finally all depending on the ./VERSION file,
561 thanks to Martin Maechler.
563 * Yet more fixes to SAS mode, thanks to Rich Heiberger.
565 Changes/New Features in 5.1.12:
566 * Splus 5.1 stabilized, thanks to Martin Maechler, Bill Venables,
567 Chuck Taylor, and others.
569 * More fixes to SAS mode, thanks to Rodney Sparapani and Rich
572 Changes/New Features in 5.1.11:
573 * More fixes to Stata mode, thanks to Brendan Halpin
574 (mailto:brendan@essex.ac.uk).
576 * fixed bugs in ESS-elsewhere, thanks to many testers
578 * README.SPLUS4WIN has DETAILED instructions for S-PLUS 2000, thanks
579 to David Brahm (mailto:brahm@alum.mit.edu).
581 * Fixes to SAS mode, thanks to Rodney Sparapani
583 Changes/New Features in 5.1.10:
584 * More fixes to Stata mode
586 * primitive generic version of ESS-elsewhere
588 * Small fixes to SAS/Stata.
590 Changes/New Features in 5.1.9:
593 * Literate Data Analysis using Noweb works
595 Changes/New Features in 5.1.8:
598 * R documentation mode defaults changed
600 Changes/New Features in 5.1.2:
601 * able to use inferior iESS mode to communicate directly with a
602 running S-Plus 4.x process using the Microsoft DDE protocol. We
603 use the familiar (from Unix ESS) `C-c C-n' and related key
604 sequences to send lines from the S-mode file to the inferior S
605 process. We continue to edit S input files in ESS[S] mode and
606 transcripts of previous S sessions in ESS Transcript mode. All
607 three modes know the S language, syntax, and indentation patterns
608 and provide the syntactic highlighting that eases the programming
614 * Languages Supported:
615 * S family (S 3/4, S-PLUS 3.x/4.x/5.x/6.x/7.x, and R)
623 * XLispStat including Arc and ViSta
625 * Editing source code (S family, SAS, BUGS, XLispStat)
626 * Syntactic indentation and highlighting of source code
628 * Partial evaluation of code
630 * Loading and error-checking of code
632 * Source code revision maintenance
634 * Batch execution (SAS, BUGS)
636 * Use of imenu to provide links to appropriate functions
638 * Interacting with the process (S family, SAS, XLispStat)
639 * Command-line editing
641 * Searchable Command history
643 * Command-line completion of S family object names and file
646 * Quick access to object lists and search lists
648 * Transcript recording
650 * Interface to the help system
652 * Transcript manipulation (S family, XLispStat)
653 * Recording and saving transcript files
655 * Manipulating and editing saved transcripts
657 * Re-evaluating commands from transcript files
659 * Help File Editing (R)
660 * Syntactic indentation and highlighting of source code.
662 * Sending Examples to running ESS process.
669 Versions 5.3.x are meant to be release-quality versions. While some
670 new features are being introduced, we are cleaning up and improving the
671 interface. We know about some remaining documentation inconsistencies.
672 Patches or suggested fixes with bug reports are much appreciated!
677 ESS has been tested with
681 * S-PLUS 3.3-4, 4.5, 5.0-1, 6.0-2, 7.0, 2000
693 on the following platforms
697 * Solaris/SunOS (all)
699 * Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP (R, SPLUS 4.5/6.0-2/7.0/2000,
702 * Apple Mac OS (SAS for OS 9 and R for OS X)
704 with the following versions of emacs
706 * GNU Emacs 20.3-7, 21.1, 21.3-4, 22.0.50-pretesting
708 * XEmacs 21.0, 21.1.13-14, 21.4.0-8, 21.4.9-13(1), 21.4.14-15,
711 ---------- Footnotes ----------
713 (1) require the files.el patch to revert-buffer for the Local
714 Variables updating problem
716 1.7 Getting the Latest Version
717 ==============================
719 The latest released version of ESS is always available on the web at:
720 ESS web page (http://ess.r-project.org) or StatLib
721 (http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/general/ESS/)
723 The latest development version of ESS is available via
724 `https://svn.R-project.org/ESS/', the ESS Subversion repository. If
725 you have a Subversion client (see `http://subversion.tigris.org/'), you
726 can download the sources using:
727 % svn checkout https://svn.r-project.org/ESS/trunk PATH
728 which will put the ESS files into directory PATH. Later, within
729 that directory, `svn update' will bring that directory up to date.
730 Windows-based tools such as TortoiseSVN are also available for
731 downloading the files. Alternatively, you can browse the sources with a
732 web browser at: ESS SVN site (https://svn.r-project.org/ESS/trunk).
733 However, please use a subversion client instead to minimize the load
736 If you remove other versions of ESS from your emacs load-path, you
737 can then use the development version by adding the following to .emacs:
739 (load "/path/to/ess-svn/lisp/ess-site.el")
741 Note that https is required, and that the SSL certificate for the
742 Subversion server of the R project is
744 Certificate information:
745 - Hostname: svn.r-project.org
746 - Valid: from Jul 16 08:10:01 2004 GMT until Jul 14 08:10:01 2014 GMT
747 - Issuer: Department of Mathematics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, CH
748 - Fingerprint: c9:5d:eb:f9:f2:56:d1:04:ba:44:61:f8:64:6b:d9:33:3f:93:6e:ad
750 (currently, there is no "trusted certificate"). You can accept this
751 certificate permanently and will not be asked about it anymore.
753 1.8 Installation (from tar file)
754 ================================
756 We now discuss installation, which might happen under Unix or Microsoft
757 Windows. First, we discuss Unix installation. *Note Unix
760 For Microsoft Windows Installation please skip to the *Note
761 Microsoft Windows installation::.
763 1.9 Unix installation
764 =====================
766 1. `cd' to a directory where you want to install ESS, creating it if
767 necessary. This directory will be referred to below as `ESSDIR'.
769 2. Retrieve the latest version from ESS downloads area
770 (http://ess.r-project.org/downloads/ess) to `ESSDIR'.
772 3. Decompress/unarchive the files from the disribution.
773 Either, `gunzip < ess-VERSION.tgz | tar xf -',
774 or using GNU tar, `tar zxf ess-VERSION.tgz'.
776 The `tar' command will create the subdirectory `ess-VERSION' and
777 install the files there.
779 4. Edit the file `ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site.el' as explained
780 in the comments section of that file.
783 (load "ESSDIR/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site")
784 to your user or system installation file (GNU Emacs uses
785 `$HOME/.emacs' and XEmacs uses `$HOME/.xemacs/init.el' for the
786 user initialization file. GNU Emacs uses `default.el' or
787 `site-init.el' and XEmacs uses `site-start.el' for the system
790 Alternatively, if `ess-site.el' is in your current `load-path',
793 to configure emacs for ESS.
795 6. That's it! If you are installing just a local copy of ESS for
796 yourself, ESS is now ready to be used. (The remaining step below
797 is for advanced installation.) To edit statistical programs, load
798 the files with the requiste extensions (`.sas' for SAS, `.S' for
799 S-PLUS, `.R' for R, and `.lsp' for XLispStat). To start a
800 statistical process within emacs, such as R, type `M-x R'.
802 7. (OPTIONAL) READ THIS ITEM THOROUGHLY BEFORE STARTING:
804 If you want to place the compiled files in other locations edit the
805 `LISPDIR', `INFODIR' and `ETCDIR' entries in Section 1 of
806 `Makeconf' in the `ESSDIR/ess-VERSION' directory (if you are using
807 XEmacs, then see the XEmacs subsection in Section 1 of `Makeconf').
809 You can compile those files by:
812 When that completes successfully, install the compiled files:
815 _Note:_ ESS is no longer available as an XEmacs package. But, you
816 can still install ESS into the XEmacs package system by choosing
817 the appropriate directory for unpacking as follows:
818 `PREFIX/lib/xemacs/site-packages' on unix or
819 `PREFIX\XEmacs\site-packages' on windows _Note:_ ESS will work
820 best if the XEmacs sumo tarball (all XEmacs packages combined) has
821 been installed. For more information on installing XEmacs
822 packages, see Quickstart Package Guide
823 (http://www.xemacs.org/Documentation/packageGuide.html).
826 1.10 Microsoft Windows installation
827 ===================================
829 For Microsoft Windows installation, please follow the next steps: (see
830 separate instructions above for UNIX *Note Unix installation::.
832 1. `cd' to a directory where you keep emacs lisp files, or create a
833 new directory (for example, `c:\emacs\') to hold the distribution.
834 This directory will be referred to below as "the ESS distribution
837 2. Retrieve the latest zip file (`ess-VERSION.zip') or compressed tar
838 file `ess-VERSION.tgz' from ESS downloads area
839 (http://ess.r-project.org/downloads/ess) and store it in the ESS
840 distribution directory. Be aware that http browsers on Windows
841 frequently change the "." and "-" characters in filenames to other
842 punctuation. Please change the names back to their original form.
844 3. Extract all the files from `ess-VERSION.zip' or `ess-VERSION.tgz'
845 into the ESS distribution directory as `c:\emacs\ess-VERSION\'.
846 You may use the commands `unzip' on the zip archive or `gunzip'
847 and `tar' on the tgz file. It is possible to unpack the zip
848 archive in Windows Explorer, by double clicking on the folder; you
849 should then see a new folder called `ess-VERSION'. Drag that
850 folder into your ESS distribution directory.
853 (load "C:/emacs/ess-VERSION/lisp/ess-site")
854 to your emacs initialization file. (GNU Emacs uses the filename
855 `~/.emacs' and XEmacs uses the filename `~/.xemacs/init.el' for
856 the initialization file. The tilde is recognised by emacs as your
857 HOME directory, i.e. the value of your HOME environment variable.)
858 Replace `VERSION' above with the version number of ESS. Remember
859 to use forwardslashes `/', rather than backslashes `\', in your
860 filename inside emacs code files.
862 After saving your initialization file, ESS is now installed.
863 Start a new emacs and you should be ready to use ESS. For
864 example, to edit statistical programs, load the files with the
865 requisite extensions (".sas" for SAS, ".S" or "s" or "q" or "Q"
866 for S-PLUS, ".r" or ".R" for R, and ".lsp" for XLispStat). One
867 further step is needed if you wish to run statistical processes,
870 5. To run statistical processes under ESS, Windows users will need to
871 make sure that the directories for the software they will be using
872 is in the PATH environment variable. On Windows 9x, add lines
873 similar to the following to your `c:\autoexec.bat' file:
874 path=%PATH%;c:\progra~1\insightful\splus70\cmd
875 On Windows NT/2000/XP, add the directories to the PATH using the
876 `My Computer/Control Panel/System/Advanced/Environment Variables'
877 menu. Note that the directory containing the program is added to
878 the PATH, not the program itself. One such line is needed for
879 each software program. Be sure to use the abbreviation `progra~1'
880 and not the long version with embedded blanks. Use backslashes
883 An alternative, for R users, is that rather than adjusting the PATH
884 variable, you can add the following to your emacs initialization
885 file (and restart emacs):
886 (setq inferior-R-program-name "C:/progra~1/R/R-2.2.1/bin/Rterm.exe")
887 This assumes that you have installed R-2.2.1 in the default
888 location. Change the path otherwise to point to other locations.
890 Windows users who place S-PLUS anywhere other than the default
891 location will also need to add the following three lines (properly
892 adjusted for their location) to their `%HOME%/.emacs' or
893 `%HOME%/.xemacs/init.el' file:
894 (setq-default inferior-S+6-program-name
895 "c:/progra~1/Insightful/SPLUS70/cmd/Splus")
896 (setq-default inferior-Sqpe+6-SHOME-name
897 "c:/progra~1/Insightful/SPLUS70")
898 (setq-default inferior-Sqpe+6-program-name
899 "c:/progra~1/Insightful/SPLUS70/cmd/Sqpe.exe")
900 The above example uses the default location of S-PLUS in
901 `c:/progra~1/Insightful'. Please note that ESS considers S-PLUS
902 6, 7, and 8 to be variants of S+6.
904 These users may also need to modify the emacs variable
905 `ess-SHOME-versions' to match their installation in order to get
906 the full set of S-PLUS versions on their machine into the `ESS'
909 To start the S-PLUS [678].x GUI from ESS under emacs:
910 1. If you use Cygwin bash as your primary shell, then
914 2. If you use the MSDOS prompt window as your primary shell, then
916 You will then be asked for a pathname ("S starting data
917 directory?"), from which to start the process. The prompt will
918 propose your current directory as the default. ESS will start the
919 S-PLUS GUI. There will be slight delay during which emacs is
920 temporarily frozen. ESS will arrange for communication with the
921 S-PLUS GUI using the DDE protocol. Send lines or regions from the
922 emacs buffer containing your S program (for example, `myfile.s')
923 to the S-PLUS Commands Window with the `C-c C-n' or `C-c C-r' keys.
924 (If you are still using S-PLUS 4.x or 2000,\ then use `M-x S+4' or
927 To start an S-PLUS [678].x session inside an emacs buffer--and
928 without the S-PLUS GUI:
931 This works with both the bash and msdos shells. You will then be
932 asked for a pathname ("S starting data directory?"), from which to
933 start the process. The prompt will propose your current directory
934 as the default. You get Unix-like behavior, in particular the
935 entire transcript is available for emacs-style search commands.
936 Send lines or regions from the emacs buffer containing your S
937 program (for example, `myfile.s') to the *S+6* buffer with the
938 `C-c C-n' or `C-c C-r' keys. Interactive graphics are available
939 with Sqpe by using the java library supplied with S-PLUS 6.1 and
940 newer releases. Enter the commands:
943 Graphs can be saved from the `java.graph' device in several
944 formats, but not PostScript. If you need a PostScript file you
945 will need to open a separate `postscript' device. (If you are
946 still using S-PLUS 4.x or 2000, then use `M-x Sqpe+4'.)
948 To connect to an already running S-PLUS GUI (started, for example,
949 from the S-PLUS icon):
952 M-x S+6-msdos-existing
953 You will then be asked for a pathname ("S starting data
954 directory?"), from which to start the process. The prompt will
955 propose your current directory as the default. ESS will arrange
956 for communication with the already running S-PLUS GUI using the
957 DDE protocol. Send lines or regions from the emacs buffer
958 containing your S program (for example, `myfile.s') to the S-PLUS
959 Commands Window with the `C-c C-n' or `C-c C-r' keys. (If you are
960 still using S-PLUS 4.x or 2000, then use `M-x S+4-existing' or
961 `M-x S+4-msdos-existing'.)
963 If you wish to run R, you can start it with:
966 XLispStat can not currently be run with
968 Hopefully, this will change. However, you can still edit with
969 emacs, and cut and paste the results into the XLispStat *Listener*
970 Window under Microsoft Windows.
978 Please send bug reports, suggestions etc. to
979 <ESS-bugs@stat.math.ethz.ch>
981 The easiest way to do this is within Emacs by typing
983 `M-x ess-submit-bug-report'
985 This also gives the maintainers valuable information about your
986 installation which may help us to identify or even fix the bug.
988 If Emacs reports an error, backtraces can help us debug the problem.
989 Type "M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET". Then run the
990 command that causes the error and you should see a *Backtrace* buffer
991 containing debug information; send us that buffer.
993 Note that comments, suggestions, words of praise and large cash
994 donations are also more than welcome.
999 There is a mailing list for discussions and announcements relating to
1000 ESS. Join the list by sending an e-mail with "subscribe ess-help" (or
1001 "help") in the body to <ess-help-request@stat.math.ethz.ch>;
1002 contributions to the list may be mailed to
1003 <ess-help@stat.math.ethz.ch>. Rest assured, this is a fairly
1004 low-volume mailing list.
1006 The purposes of the mailing list include
1008 * helping users of ESS to get along with it.
1010 * discussing aspects of using ESS on Emacs and XEmacs.
1012 * suggestions for improvements.
1014 * announcements of new releases of ESS.
1016 * posting small patches to ESS.
1021 * A.J. Rossini (mailto:blindglobe@gmail.com)
1023 * Richard M. Heiberger (mailto:rmh@temple.edu)
1025 * Kurt Hornik (mailto:Kurt.Hornik@R-project.org)
1027 * Martin Maechler (mailto:maechler@stat.math.ethz.ch)
1029 * Rodney A. Sparapani (mailto:rsparapa@mcw.edu)
1031 * Stephen Eglen (mailto:stephen@gnu.org)