[Rd] problem with help.start() in R (PR#1156)

Luke Tierney luke@nokomis.stat.umn.edu
Thu, 1 Nov 2001 10:35:55 -0600


The Python web browrer stuff has a pointer to
http://developer.kde.org/documentation/other/kfmclient.html for info
on the Konquerer remote-control interface and uses

    def _remote(self, action):
        cmd = "kfmclient %s >/dev/null 2>&1" % action
        rc = os.system(cmd)
        if rc:
            import time
            if self.basename == "konqueror":
                os.system(self.name + " --silent &")
            else:
                os.system(self.name + " -d &")
            time.sleep(PROCESS_CREATION_DELAY)
            rc = os.system(cmd)
        return not rc

in case anyone wants to look into supporting Konqueror.

luke

On Thu, Nov 01, 2001 at 04:25:16PM +0000, Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
> Follow-up: netscape 6.2 (announced on Tuesday) does support -remote, so
> perhaps mozilla does now / will soon.
> 
> Brian
> 
> 
> On Thu, 1 Nov 2001, Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
> 
> > I tested Opera 5.0 under Linux (www.opera.com).  It worked with -remote
> > correctly.  What I did not get to work was the search engine, but I saw no
> > sign of Java support for Opera under Linux. (For Windows it is a separate
> > add-on.)
> >
> > I've amended the documentation, but I do wonder if
> > help.start(browser="foo") should set options(browser="foo").
> >
> > B
> >
> > On Wed, 31 Oct 2001, Kurt Hornik wrote:
> >
> > > >>>>> Dinh-Tuan Pham writes:
> > >
> > > > Prof Brian Ripley writes:
> > > >> On Wed, 31 Oct 2001 Dinh-Tuan.Pham@imag.fr wrote:
> > > >>
> > > >> >        The function help.start() assume that the brower is netscape
> > > >> > which is no longer the dominant brower in used. I am using now opera
> > > >>
> > > >> On what operating system is this?  On Unix/Linux you should be using
> > > >> options(browser="opera").  On Windows/Mac you can't set the browser
> > > >> anyway.
> > >
> > > > on Linux, actually
> > >
> > > >> > help.start(browser="opera"), but it is not convenience: I would like
> > > >> > to be able to set the default brwsernone for all. But the real bug is
> > > >> > that even after launching help.start(browser="opera"), other help
> > > >> > commands, help(help), say, still send the "help page" to netscape. Here
> > > >> > is what I get
> > > >> >
> > > >> > > help.start(browser="opera")
> > > >> > If opera  is already running,   it is *not* restarted,
> > > >> >  and you must switch to its window.
> > > >> > Otherwise, be patient..
> > > >> > > help(help)
> > > >> > help() for help  is shown in browser netscape ...
> > > >> > Use      help( help , htmlhelp=FALSE)
> > > >> > or       options(htmlhelp = FALSE)
> > > >> > to revert.
> > > >> > > sh: netscape: command not found
> > > >> >
> > > >> > Please correct this bug.
> > > >>
> > > >> I don't think it is a bug in R but I have expanded the documentation.
> > > >>
> > > >> Please do use the bug.report() function, as critical information is
> > > >> missing from this report.
> > >
> > > > I am sorry not having looked carefully on the documentation. But the
> > > > first thing I do is to launch help.start() and be stuck with an
> > > > inexistent browser. I have imagined that help.start(browser="opera")
> > > > would set the browser to opera, but I am wrong and the browser must be
> > > > set by options(browser="opera"), a feature which I am not aware of.
> > > > Nevertheless, I find this rather confusing for a new user: if
> > > > options(browser="opera") should always be used to set the browser,
> > > > then the argument browser="opera" in help.start would never be needed.
> > >
> > > The documentation issue may be unfortunate, but there is really no point
> > > unless we find browsers other than Netscape which can be controlled
> > > remotely.  I have been raising this issue a couple of times, last time
> > > about three months ago or so.  Mozilla then claimed to support -remote
> > > as Netscape does but really did not.  Konqueror does not allow being
> > > sent URLs remotely, and neither does gnome-help-browser.  Not sure about
> > > Opera ... do you have more info?
> > >
> > > -k
> > > -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
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> > >
> >
> > --
> > Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley@stats.ox.ac.uk
> > Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
> > University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
> > 1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272860 (secr)
> > Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595
> >
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> > Send "info", "help", or "[un]subscribe"
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> >
> 
> -- 
> Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley@stats.ox.ac.uk
> Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
> University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
> 1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272860 (secr)
> Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595
> 
> -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
> r-devel mailing list -- Read http://www.ci.tuwien.ac.at/~hornik/R/R-FAQ.html
> Send "info", "help", or "[un]subscribe"
> (in the "body", not the subject !)  To: r-devel-request@stat.math.ethz.ch
> _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._

-- 
Luke Tierney
University of Minnesota                      Phone:           612-625-7843
School of Statistics                         Fax:             612-624-8868
313 Ford Hall, 224 Church St. S.E.           email:      luke@stat.umn.edu
Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA                    WWW:  http://www.stat.umn.edu
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