[BioC] tcltk installation problem

[Martin Morgan]

Hi Ilhem --

Ilhem Diboun wrote:
> Hi
> 
> I am having difficulties loading the tcltk library in R
> and I would greatly appreciate any help.
> 
> I installed the tcl/tk  (tcl8.5.8-src.tar.gz & tk8.5.8-src.tar.gz)
> packages from www.tcl.tk and installed them. Then, I downloaded
> the latest version of R source code
> and compiled it specifying the paths to tclConfig.sh/tkConfig.sh
> using the following command:
> 
> R-2.10.0> ./configure
> --with-tcl-config=/home/bsm/idiboun/software/tcl8.5.8/unix/tclConfig.sh
> --with-tk-config=/home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/tkConfig.sh
> 
> After issuing the 'make' command, running R and trying to load the library
> tcltk returns the same old error:
> 
>> library(tcltk)
> Error in firstlib(which.lib.loc, package) :
>  Tcl/Tk support is not available on this system
> Error in library(tcltk) : .First.lib failed for 'tcltk'
> 
> -The following are from the R configuration output:
> checking for /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tcl8.5.8/unix/tclConfig.sh...
> /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tcl8.5.8/unix/tclConfig.sh
> checking for /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/tkConfig.sh...
> /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/tkConfig.sh
> checking tcl.h usability... yes
> checking tcl.h presence... yes
> checking for tcl.h... yes
> checking tk.h usability... no
> checking tk.h presence... no
> checking for tk.h... no
> checking
> /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/include/tk8.5/generic/tk.h
> usability... no
> checking
> /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/include/tk8.5/generic/tk.h
> presence... no
> checking for
> /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/include/tk8.5/generic/tk.h... no
> checking /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/include/tk8.5/tk.h
> usability... no
> checking /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/include/tk8.5/tk.h
> presence... no
> checking for
> /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/include/tk8.5/tk.h... no
> checking /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/include/tcl8.5/tk.h
> usability... no
> checking /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/include/tcl8.5/tk.h
> presence... no
> checking for
> /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/include/tcl8.5/tk.h... no
> checking /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/include/tk.h
> usability... no
> checking /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/include/tk.h
> presence... no
> checking for /home/bsm/idiboun/software/tk8.5.8/unix/include/tk.h... no
> checking for tk.h... yes
> 
> Does that suggest that there are problems with the way I installed
> tcl/tk packages ???

Yes, I *think* configure is telling you that tk is not installed correctly.

> Also, I read from the bioconductor mailing list archive emails that the
> -dev packages for
> the tcl tk packages need also to be installed. If so, where can I find
> them, they don't seem
> to be on www.tcl.tk ??

Linux package managers ('zypper' for me on SuSE) maintain repositories
of commonly installed linux packages. These packages often come in two
major flavors, one of which is typically a 'devel' flavor that contains
the components necessary to link the package during compilation. Usually
the packages have been curated by an expert who knows what is needed for
standard versus devel installations.

So the easiest thing is to use the facilities of a package manager to
install the necessary software. The next easiest thing, and it looks
like you might not have root privileged on your system, is to ask your
system administrator to install the software (tcltk would not be an
unusual request, and perhaps it is already installed). The least easiest
thing is to become an expert yourself and determine how to install the
package in a way consistent with its use in development. This is the
path that you seem to be on, but perhaps it is not too late to switch to
an easier road?

The ins and outs of configuring R are probably topics for the R
Installation and Administration manual, and the R-devel mailing list.

Martin
> 
> Many thanks in advance
> 
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-- 
Martin Morgan
Computational Biology / Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
1100 Fairview Ave. N.
PO Box 19024 Seattle, WA 98109

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