[ESS] ess installation on Windows [forwarded]

[Zachary Skrivanek]

Paul,
 
Hi!  Thanks for your response.  Unfortunately these instructions don't work either.  They appear to be outdated referring to older versions of emacs and ess.  I followed the instructions exactly, using the older versions even.  But to no avail.  I am using Splus 6 and perhaps that is the problem.  Your instructions refer to R.  
 
Attached is the error message I get when I try to go into "s-mode" within emacs.  Perhaps if these instructions stated how to add 'splus61\cmd' to my 'exec-path' or exactly how to assign a path name to 'inferior-S+6-program-name' in my .emacs file I could figure it out.  But I would also have to know how to create a .emacs file since I get an error message from windows whenever I try to create a .* file.  I assume that _emacs would suffice, but this is an assumption.  (And I did create _emacs and again it didn't work.)
 
None of the instructions that I have found on the internet are correct.  I have spent 10+ hours going over both the instructions that you gave me and the instructions from other sources including the instructions from the website referred to in these instructions.  This website referred to has changed by the way and is now at:  http://stat.ethz.ch/ESS/Manual/readme.html#Installation
 
 Would you be able to refer me to someone who knows how to install ess for emacs on an XP machine with Splus6?  The available instructions are inaccurate or not expicit enough.  I have some very specific questions.  If I could get answers to them I should be able to install this software.  The questions are imbedded in this e-mail, depending on the instructions one is following.
 
Sincerely,
Zak
 
 


Paul Johnson <pauljohn at ku.edu> wrote:
I have to agree with you that the install instructions are oblique and 
somewhat puzzling for new users. I worked on the idiot proof install 
guide at one time. The process can really be simple if you get it right. 
Right before ESS was relocated to its new web pages, it was situated 
in a Wiki Web site where Tony Rossini had touched up my instructions.

I can't find that now, but I can find the last piece of the email thread 
in the ESS archive

https://stat.ethz.ch/pipermail/ess-help/2004-April/001830.html

Zachary Skrivanek wrote:
> [This should have gone to the ESS-help mailing list, but was sent to MM]
> 
> ------- start of forwarded message -------
> Message-ID: <20050809193257.58048.qmail at web33602.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> From: Zachary Skrivanek 
> To: maechler at stat.math.ethz.ch
> Subject: ess installation
> Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2005 12:32:56 -0700 (PDT)
> 
> Martin,
> 
> Hi! I was able to install the emacs program on XP. Unfortunately I can't get the ess to load. The instructions are a bit oblique, perhaps you could help clarify them. In particular, I think the problem lies in:
> 
> 
> 
> Add the line 
> 
> (load "/PATH/ess-site") 
> 
> to your .emacs (or _emacs) file (or default.el or site-init.el, for a site-wide installation). Replace /PATH above with the value of ess-lisp-directory as defined in ess-site.el. Use forwardslashes /. (GNU Emacs uses the filename %HOME%/.emacs and XEmacs uses the filename %HOME%/.xemacs/init.el for the initialization file.) 
> 
> Now when I type 'set HOME' at the DOS prompt I get a a directory and I assume that this is where I place the _emacs file. (I can't create .emacs files on XP.) So now the question is: what is PATH? Per the instructions PATH is "the value of ess-lisp-directory as defined in ess-site.el". But in this file ess-lisp-directory appears to be defined in an algorithm:
> 
> *********************************************************
> 
> (defvar ess-lisp-directory
> 
> (if (and (boundp 'load-file-name) load-file-name)
> 
> ;; A nice default
> 
> (directory-file-name (file-name-directory
> 
> (file-truename load-file-name)))
> 
> (defun find-load-file-directory nil
> 
> "Locate directory in which load-file sits."
> 
> (interactive)
> 
> (let ((load-file-directory)
> 
> (beg (point)))
> 
> (list-command-history)
> 
> (set-buffer "*Command History*")
> 
> (goto-char (point-min))
> 
> (search-forward "(load-file ")
> 
> (goto-char (1+ (match-end 0)))
> 
> (setq beg (point))
> 
> (end-of-line)(search-backward "/")
> 
> (goto-char (match-end 0))
> 
> (setq load-file-directory
> 
> (expand-file-name (buffer-substring beg (point))))
> 
> (kill-buffer "*Command History*")
> 
> load-file-directory))
> 
> (directory-file-name (find-load-file-directory)))
> 
> "Directory containing ess-site.el and other ESS files.")
> 
> *****************************************************************
> 
> So my best guess is that this is the path containing the lisp files. I hence typed this path into PATH and wrote:
> 
> (load "C:/Documents and Settings/c020043_sa/Desktop/emacs bin/ess-5.2.0/lisp/ess-site")
> 
> But this doesn't work. Would you tell me what exactly I am supposed to type into PATH? Or, alternatively, how can I install ESS on my pc for S-mode use, in particular? Thanks!
> 
> 



		
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