[R] Crash when running functions from contributed packages

[Peter Dalgaard BSA]

Douglas Bates <bates at stat.wisc.edu> writes:

> > I also installed the cluster and multiv contributed packages.
> > The problem I have is that I get a core dump everytime I try to run a
> > function in the contributed packages. This seems independent on the function
> > I try, be it clara, pca, or sammon.

Doesn't happen for me (RedHat6.1 Linux). As a principle, bugs in
contributed packages are a matter between you and the package writer
(since he/she will be the one to fix things), unless you happen to be
tickling a bug in R itself. If you want to help locating a bug like
this, the most useful thing to do is to run it under the debugger, if
you have one (I'll assume gdb): just type R -d gdb and then 'r' at the
debugger prompt to start the program and redo the steps triggering the
crash. This will tell you the location of the crash in the program. A
subsequent 'bt' will give a backtrace through the call stack.

> Well I was about to say that it is easy to check the examples in the
> multiv library but then I tried to do just that and failed.  (Fritz, I
> know you are busy but is it possible/worthwhile cleaning up those
> examples a bit so, for example, the data sets are made available
> before they are used?)

Or even that they are made available, period. The help page for pca()
in the "multiv" package starts with

        # principal components of the prim4 data
        pcprim <- pca(prim4)
 
but prim4 seems to be nowhere...

(Not to mention that later on in the example we have

        old$sdev = sqrt(new$evals/(n-1))
        old$rotation = new$evec

with = instead of <- , so example(pca) gives a syntax error) 

-- 
   O__  ---- Peter Dalgaard             Blegdamsvej 3  
  c/ /'_ --- Dept. of Biostatistics     2200 Cph. N   
 (*) \(*) -- University of Copenhagen   Denmark      Ph: (+45) 35327918
~~~~~~~~~~ - (p.dalgaard at biostat.ku.dk)             FAX: (+45) 35327907
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