R-project and PSPad how-to

Introduction

Here is a method to be able to use R (a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics) with PSPad (a free text editor).
Find R here : www.r-project.org (release used : R-2.6.1)
Find PSPad here : http://www.pspad.com ( release used : PSPad 4.5.0).

Why ?

PSPad is stable, has a lot of features, is free and supports well console-type collaboration with other tools.
R is a very well featured language for statistics, and is free.
It is usefull to open some file containing R-language with PSPad, and run R from it.

Install

This tutorial is working on Ms Windows XP SP2. It should works on any Ms Windows installation.
Download and install R anywhere (further, C:\Program Files\R-2.6.1 is assumed).
Download and install PSPad anywhere.
In PSPad, modify settings :

Base file

Use this a base file, put it anywhere, name it anyname.r :

#Settings
args<-commandArgs(TRUE)
FILE_PATH<-unlist(strsplit(args[1],"\\\\"))
FILE_PATH<-paste(FILE_PATH[0:(length(FILE_PATH)-1)],collapse="\\")
logfile<-file(paste(R.home(),"\\sink.txt",sep=""),"w")
sink(logfile,type=c("output"))
sink(logfile,type=c("message"))
USE_WINDOW<-FALSE
USE_WINDOW<-TRUE
if(USE_WINDOW)windows()

#your code in r-language here instead of the following line
pie(rep(1,12), col=rainbow(12))

if(USE_WINDOW)getGraphicsEvent(onMouseDown = function(buttons,x,y){"End"})else "End"
sink(type=c("output"));
sink(type=c("message"));
close(logfile);
Comment (#) USE_WINDOW<-TRUE to not use a window (if you do not create any graphic output).
You may want to use s=read.csv(paste(BASE_PATH,"\\x.csv",sep=""), sep=",") in order to open x.csv in the same directory.

Result

You can open you xyz.r file with PSPad. Press F9 to execute it.
If a window is open (i.e. USE_WINDOW<-TRUE not commented), click on it to close it and end the script.

More infos and comments

Any mail sent here will be read.




askywhale, 2008