[R] EMACS/ESS problems

[Rich Heiberger]

It looks like you are not using ESS correctly.  ESS is designed to
work from a buffer containing a file whose name has the ".r" extension.
Thus, open a file, for example,
   C-x C-f myfile.r
and then start using R.

My diagnosis is based on your line
> highlight: (either in a text buffer or *ESS*)

ESS won't work from a text buffer because R code has different
requirements from ordinary written paragraphs in English or another
natural language.

The *ESS* buffer is part of the background mechanism that makes ESS work.
It is not intended that a user ever look at the *ESS* buffer.

One other issue that your original email suggests.  We do not
recommend the statement
   v=c(1,2,3)
for assignment.  It is much better to use the assignment arrow
   v <- c(1,2,3)
(with spaces on both sides of the arrow for legibility).  It is true
that the "=" will usually do what you expect, but there are some subtle
differences (mostly in argument lists to functions).  While I can expand on
the reasons, for the moment I just want to suggest that you get into the
habit of using the assignment arrow.

Rich