[R] [Re: tcltk loading in R-2.2.1 from src]

[Patrice Seyed]

Hi,

I believe configure was not finding tk.h, because tk-devel rpm was not 
available on the given host. Thanks Erik and Peter for the suggestions 
on checking tk.h and stdout of ./configure.

Just one further question for Peter>

"Well, the package is there, as a stub to tell you that it doesn't
work...."


So then how can you confirm from the library() output (or elsewhere) if the package is 
actually installed vs. just a stub (to tell you it doesn't work)?

Thank you,
Patrice


Erik Iverson wrote:
> Patrice -
>
> I had a very similar problem using TCL/TK 8.3.
> Below is the email I sent to my computing group at work about how I 
> fixed it.  Note that since my TCL/TK header (.h) files were in an odd 
> location, the first step probably isn't relevant for you.  But I bet 
> the second step is.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> I believe I have found the solution to this problem.  There were 2 
> steps I took to get a build of R in my home directory that properly 
> uses Tcl/Tk 8.3 under Linux.
>
> The first was setting an environment variable to let R know where the 
> tcl.h and tk.h files reside.  This environment variable was 
> TCLTK_CPPFLAGS and is set to -I/s/include .  This can bet set in the 
> config.site in R's build directory also.

tcl.h resides in /usr/include, but tk.h does not exist in its relevant 
rpm (tk-8.3.5-92).
>
> (NOTE to R-help: The above is site specific to my location, /s is for 
> software on the network.)
>
> Second, there is some problem with the way R interacts with the 
> tkConfig.sh file in /s/lib (or wherever your .sh file is located).  It 
> comes from the following line in tkConfig.sh.
>
>
> TK_XINCLUDES='# no special path needed'
>
> The "#" character, indicating a comment, is somehow misinterpreted by 
> the configure script which breaks the Tcl/Tk functionality.  I was 
> able to get around this by simply removing the comment and leaving it as
> TK_XINCLUDES=''
>
> That got me a working version of the newest R using Tcl/Tk.  I'm not 
> sure if Tcl/Tk version 8.4 would still put that comment in there, I 
> believe it's changed though, so you'd only have to follow the first 
> step to get R compiled with Tcl/Tk support.
>
> I found reference to this problem on the R mailing list, it appears to 
> only affect certain installations of Tcl/Tk.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> HTH,
> Erik Iverson
>
> Patrice Seyed wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> Having trouble loading tcltk in R 2.2.1 built from source.
>>
>> ./configure, make, make check, and make install run ok.
>>
>>
>>  > 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'
>>
>> even though it is listed in library() output.
>>
>> I have the same problem even if i compile with options:
>> ./configure --with-tcltk --with-tcl-config=/usr/lib/tclConfig.sh 
>> --with-tk-config=/usr/lib/tkConfig.sh
>>
>> Is there a dep for R 2.2.1 on a specific version of tcl? Any hints on 
>> this issue appreciated.
>>
>> running on linux (2.4.21-4) version:
>> rpm -qa | grep tcl
>> tcl-devel-8.3.5-92
>> tcl-8.3.5-92
>>
>> Specifically, the package pbatR loads this library during installation.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Patrice
>>


-- 
Patrice Seyed
Linux System Administrator - LinGA
RHCE, SCSA
Boston University Medical Campus 




-- 
Patrice Seyed
Linux System Administrator - LinGA
RHCE, SCSA
Boston University Medical Campus