[R] Building static HTML help pages in R 2.10.x on Windows

[Duncan Murdoch]

On 07/01/2010 9:47 AM, Michal Kulich wrote:
> On 7.1.2010 12:18, Duncan Murdoch wrote:
> > You don't need Rgui, you could run Rterm, which would have a smaller
> > footprint. It's not very hard to start it and minimize it, but if you
> > want it running invisibly, you'll need to figure out how to hide the icon.
>
> This works. Not entirely invisible but not a big deal about that.
> The R code run within Rterm is
>
> options(help_type="html",help.ports=6800)
> help.start()
> library(audio)
> wait(-1)
>
> [couldn't find another way to hang R indefinitely in batch mode]
>
>  
> > A disadvantage of doing this is that you won't see help relevant to your
> > current session, you'll see help relevant to the background task.  In
> > 2.10.x there aren't many differences, but you'll find it more limiting
> > in 2.11.x and later.
>
> Not a problem if one is not switching between different versions of R. The current version is on the path and the path will get updated (manually) after a new version is installed. Thus, the relevant help will be always displayed.
>   

Not necessarily.  The current help system can display information about 
the current session, e.g. the result of ls(), as a simple example.  But 
if you use a single background session you won't get relevant information.

Duncan Murdoch
> Thanks, this is a kind of solution. Now I can use bookmarks to HTML help for the favorite libraries when working in ESS - the impossibility to set those and the need to start Rgui was the big nuisance. 
>
> I am sure the new help system will get gradually improved in the future.
>
> Best,
>
> Michal
>
>