R-2.8.0 : get platform device with get(getOption("device"))

[Frédéric Lafitte]

Hi,

I have a R-package that works fine with R 2.7.0 (it builds, checks and
installs) but not with R 2.8.0.
Running check in 2.8.0 gives the following output :
[...]
* checking examples ... ERROR
[...]
The error most likely occurred in:
[...]
> dev <- show.pr(mr.tbl, col="green", type="b")
Error in get(getOption("device")) : invalid first argument
Calls: show.pr -> get
Execution halted

How can I change this code so that it works fine with R 2.8.0?

Thanks!

        [[alternative HTML version deleted]]

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[Prof Brian Ripley]

Please do study the posting guide.  This was covered recently:

https://stat.ethz.ch/pipermail/r-devel/2008-April/049319.html


On Wed, 7 May 2008, Frédéric Lafitte wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have a R-package that works fine with R 2.7.0 (it builds, checks and
> installs) but not with R 2.8.0.

There is no 'R 2.8.0' and will not be for some months.  You probably mean
R-devel, but your code has been erroneous since R 2.5.0.

> Running check in 2.8.0 gives the following output :
> [...]
> * checking examples ... ERROR
> [...]
> The error most likely occurred in:
> [...]
>> dev <- show.pr(mr.tbl, col="green", type="b")
> Error in get(getOption("device")) : invalid first argument
> Calls: show.pr -> get
> Execution halted
>
> How can I change this code so that it works fine with R 2.8.0?
>
> Thanks!
>
> [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel@... mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>

--
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley@...
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  [phone] (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     [phone] (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  [phone]
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[Peter Dalgaard]

Frédéric Lafitte wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have a R-package that works fine with R 2.7.0 (it builds, checks and
> installs) but not with R 2.8.0.
> Running check in 2.8.0 gives the following output :
> [...]
> * checking examples ... ERROR
> [...]
> The error most likely occurred in:
> [...]
>  
>> dev <- show.pr(mr.tbl, col="green", type="b")
>>    
> Error in get(getOption("device")) : invalid first argument
> Calls: show.pr -> get
> Execution halted
>
> How can I change this code so that it works fine with R 2.8.0?
>
>  

Use dev.new() instead of  that construct.


--
   O__  ---- Peter Dalgaard             Øster Farimagsgade 5, Entr.B
  c/ /'_ --- Dept. of Biostatistics     PO Box 2099, 1014 Cph. K
 (*) \(*) -- University of Copenhagen   Denmark      Ph:  ([phone]
~~~~~~~~~~ - (p.dalgaard@...)              FAX: [phone]

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[Peter Dalgaard]

Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
> Please do study the posting guide.  This was covered recently:
>
> https://stat.ethz.ch/pipermail/r-devel/2008-April/049319.html
Nevertheless, perhaps an explicit NEWS entry could be warranted,
something like

   o    The "device" option can now be a function, and is one in some
standard setups. Consequentially, get(getOption("device")) will fail;
programmers should usually use dev.new() instead.

>
>
> On Wed, 7 May 2008, Frédéric Lafitte wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a R-package that works fine with R 2.7.0 (it builds, checks and
>> installs) but not with R 2.8.0.
>
> There is no 'R 2.8.0' and will not be for some months.  You probably
> mean R-devel, but your code has been erroneous since R 2.5.0.
>
>> Running check in 2.8.0 gives the following output :
>> [...]
>> * checking examples ... ERROR
>> [...]
>> The error most likely occurred in:
>> [...]
>>> dev <- show.pr(mr.tbl, col="green", type="b")
>> Error in get(getOption("device")) : invalid first argument
>> Calls: show.pr -> get
>> Execution halted
>>
>> How can I change this code so that it works fine with R 2.8.0?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>>     [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>> R-devel@... mailing list
>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel@... mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>  

--
   O__  ---- Peter Dalgaard             Øster Farimagsgade 5, Entr.B
  c/ /'_ --- Dept. of Biostatistics     PO Box 2099, 1014 Cph. K
 (*) \(*) -- University of Copenhagen   Denmark      Ph:  ([phone]
~~~~~~~~~~ - (p.dalgaard@...)              FAX: [phone]

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[Prof Brian Ripley]

Here is the NEWS item, for 2.5.0

     o options(device = ) now accepts a function object as well as
  the name of a function.

The construct in the subject line has been broken ever since.

On Thu, 8 May 2008, Peter Dalgaard wrote:

> Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
>> Please do study the posting guide.  This was covered recently:
>>
>> https://stat.ethz.ch/pipermail/r-devel/2008-April/049319.html
> Nevertheless, perhaps an explicit NEWS entry could be warranted, something
> like
>
>  o    The "device" option can now be a function, and is one in some standard
> setups. Consequentially, get(getOption("device")) will fail; programmers
> should usually use dev.new() instead.
>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, 7 May 2008, Frédéric Lafitte wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I have a R-package that works fine with R 2.7.0 (it builds, checks and
>>> installs) but not with R 2.8.0.
>>
>> There is no 'R 2.8.0' and will not be for some months.  You probably mean
>> R-devel, but your code has been erroneous since R 2.5.0.
>>
>>> Running check in 2.8.0 gives the following output :
>>> [...]
>>> * checking examples ... ERROR
>>> [...]
>>> The error most likely occurred in:
>>> [...]
>>>> dev <- show.pr(mr.tbl, col="green", type="b")
>>> Error in get(getOption("device")) : invalid first argument
>>> Calls: show.pr -> get
>>> Execution halted
>>>
>>> How can I change this code so that it works fine with R 2.8.0?
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>>     [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>>>
>>> ______________________________________________
>>> R-devel@... mailing list
>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>> R-devel@... mailing list
>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>>
>
>
> --
>  O__  ---- Peter Dalgaard             Øster Farimagsgade 5, Entr.B
> c/ /'_ --- Dept. of Biostatistics     PO Box 2099, 1014 Cph. K
> (*) \(*) -- University of Copenhagen   Denmark      Ph:  ([phone]
> ~~~~~~~~~~ - (p.dalgaard@...)              FAX: [phone]
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel@... mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>

--
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley@...
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  [phone] (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     [phone] (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  [phone]
______________________________________________
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[Peter Dalgaard]

Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
> Here is the NEWS item, for 2.5.0
>
>     o    options(device = ) now accepts a function object as well as
>     the name of a function.
>
> The construct in the subject line has been broken ever since.
OK, but that entry was obviously hard to spot even when looking for it!

>
> On Thu, 8 May 2008, Peter Dalgaard wrote:
>
>> Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
>>> Please do study the posting guide.  This was covered recently:
>>>
>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/pipermail/r-devel/2008-April/049319.html
>> Nevertheless, perhaps an explicit NEWS entry could be warranted,
>> something like
>>
>>  o    The "device" option can now be a function, and is one in some
>> standard setups. Consequentially, get(getOption("device")) will fail;
>> programmers should usually use dev.new() instead.
>>

So...

o    The "device" option now is a function in some standard setups.
Consequentially, get(getOption("device")) will fail; programmers should
usually use dev.new() instead. (Assuming that the device is a character
string has been incorrect since 2.5.0.)

>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, 7 May 2008, Frédéric Lafitte wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I have a R-package that works fine with R 2.7.0 (it builds, checks and
>>>> installs) but not with R 2.8.0.
>>>
>>> There is no 'R 2.8.0' and will not be for some months.  You probably
>>> mean R-devel, but your code has been erroneous since R 2.5.0.
>>>
>>>> Running check in 2.8.0 gives the following output :
>>>> [...]
>>>> * checking examples ... ERROR
>>>> [...]
>>>> The error most likely occurred in:
>>>> [...]
>>>>> dev <- show.pr(mr.tbl, col="green", type="b")
>>>> Error in get(getOption("device")) : invalid first argument
>>>> Calls: show.pr -> get
>>>> Execution halted
>>>>
>>>> How can I change this code so that it works fine with R 2.8.0?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks!
>>>>
>>>>     [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>>>>
>>>> ______________________________________________
>>>> R-devel@... mailing list
>>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>
>>> ______________________________________________
>>> R-devel@... mailing list
>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>  O__  ---- Peter Dalgaard             Øster Farimagsgade 5, Entr.B
>> c/ /'_ --- Dept. of Biostatistics     PO Box 2099, 1014 Cph. K
>> (*) \(*) -- University of Copenhagen   Denmark      Ph:  ([phone]
>> ~~~~~~~~~~ - (p.dalgaard@...)              FAX: [phone]
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>> R-devel@... mailing list
>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>>
>

--
   O__  ---- Peter Dalgaard             Øster Farimagsgade 5, Entr.B
  c/ /'_ --- Dept. of Biostatistics     PO Box 2099, 1014 Cph. K
 (*) \(*) -- University of Copenhagen   Denmark      Ph:  ([phone]
~~~~~~~~~~ - (p.dalgaard@...)              FAX: [phone]

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[Paul Roebuck-2]

On Thu, 8 May 2008, Peter Dalgaard wrote:

> Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
> > Here is the NEWS item, for 2.5.0
> >
> >     o    options(device = ) now accepts a function object as well as
> >     the name of a function.
> >
> > The construct in the subject line has been broken ever since.

Yet the change produced no warnings when made, so apparently
everyone else missed it!

> OK, but that entry was obviously hard to spot even when looking for it!
> >
> > On Thu, 8 May 2008, Peter Dalgaard wrote:
> >
> >> Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
> >>> Please do study the posting guide.  This was covered recently:
> >>>
> >>> https://stat.ethz.ch/pipermail/r-devel/2008-April/049319.html
> >> Nevertheless, perhaps an explicit NEWS entry could be warranted,
> >> something like
> >>
> >>  o    The "device" option can now be a function, and is one in some
> >> standard setups. Consequentially, get(getOption("device")) will fail;
> >> programmers should usually use dev.new() instead.
> >>
> So...
>
> o    The "device" option now is a function in some standard setups.
> Consequentially, get(getOption("device")) will fail; programmers should
> usually use dev.new() instead. (Assuming that the device is a character
> string has been incorrect since 2.5.0.)
>

Prof Brian Ripley noted [in another recent message] that
it was also wrong to assume ANY arguments for dev.new
method. If we are only concerned with interactive screen
devices (i.e., x11, windows, quartz), would it be safe to
come up with a method that can take basic dimension arguments
(width & height)? Suggestions for an R-Core approved method
of doing so?

We use this functionality every day for creating multiple
onscreen windows with specified dimensions.

While I understand things have to change to evolve the
codebase, this change broke the code supporting countless
papers and analyses here in our department, without warning
until now.

----------------------------------------------------------
SIGSIG -- signature too long (core dumped)

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[Prof Brian Ripley]

If you set, say

options(device="pdf")

you get the old behaviour.  You really cannot assume that session settings
will be unchanged unless you set them yourself.

On Fri, 9 May 2008, Paul Roebuck wrote:

> On Thu, 8 May 2008, Peter Dalgaard wrote:
>
>> Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
>>> Here is the NEWS item, for 2.5.0
>>>
>>>     o    options(device = ) now accepts a function object as well as
>>>     the name of a function.
>>>
>>> The construct in the subject line has been broken ever since.
>
> Yet the change produced no warnings when made, so apparently
> everyone else missed it!

It did, if you set that option.

>> OK, but that entry was obviously hard to spot even when looking for it!
>>>
>>> On Thu, 8 May 2008, Peter Dalgaard wrote:
>>>
>>>> Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
>>>>> Please do study the posting guide.  This was covered recently:
>>>>>
>>>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/pipermail/r-devel/2008-April/049319.html
>>>> Nevertheless, perhaps an explicit NEWS entry could be warranted,
>>>> something like
>>>>
>>>>  o    The "device" option can now be a function, and is one in some
>>>> standard setups. Consequentially, get(getOption("device")) will fail;
>>>> programmers should usually use dev.new() instead.
>>>>
>> So...
>>
>> o    The "device" option now is a function in some standard setups.
>> Consequentially, get(getOption("device")) will fail; programmers should
>> usually use dev.new() instead. (Assuming that the device is a character
>> string has been incorrect since 2.5.0.)
>>
>
> Prof Brian Ripley noted [in another recent message] that
> it was also wrong to assume ANY arguments for dev.new
> method. If we are only concerned with interactive screen
> devices (i.e., x11, windows, quartz), would it be safe to
> come up with a method that can take basic dimension arguments
> (width & height)? Suggestions for an R-Core approved method
> of doing so?
>
> We use this functionality every day for creating multiple
> onscreen windows with specified dimensions.
>
> While I understand things have to change to evolve the
> codebase, this change broke the code supporting countless
> papers and analyses here in our department, without warning
> until now.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> SIGSIG -- signature too long (core dumped)
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel@... mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>

--
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley@...
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  [phone] (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     [phone] (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  [phone]

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