[ESS] README organization

Rodney Sparapani rsparapa at mcw.edu
Tue Dec 9 22:33:31 CET 2008


Thanks for all of the positive feedback.  However, I have wanted to
go much further in the Installation section for some time.  And my 
testing shows that recent versions of emacs are much more friendly in
this respect.  Here's a draft of the new Windows instructions
(and similar changes to the Unix section would be called for as well):

1.7 Microsoft Windows installation
==================================

For Microsoft Windows installation, please follow the next steps.
Retrieve the latest zip file (`ess-VERSION.zip') from ESS downloads
area (http://ess.r-project.org/downloads/ess).

    _GNU Emacs Simple Instructions:_ for recent versions of Emacs (22.x),
the installation process is much simpler.  Hopefully, these simple
instructions will work for you.  If not, then more detailed, manual
instructions follow.

   1. Extract all the files from `ess-VERSION.zip' (by double clicking
      on it and selecting "Extract all files" which launches the Folders
      Extraction Wizard) into the `site-lisp' directory that exists for
      packages like ESS.  If GNU Emacs was installed in the default
      location, then this directory can be found somewhere like
      `C:\Program Files\GNU Emacs\emacs-22.x\site-lisp'.

   2. Add the line
           (require 'ess-site)
      to `~/.emacs' and restart Emacs.

   3. If you see a buffer named `*ESS*', then the simple instructions
      were most likely successful.  If not, then read further.

    _XEmacs Simple Instructions:_ for recent versions of XEmacs (21.x),
the installation process is much simpler.  Hopefully, these simple
instructions will work for you.  If not, then more detailed, manual
instructions follow.

   1. Extract all the files from `ess-VERSION.zip' (by double clicking
      on it and selecting "Extract all files" which launches the Folders
      Extraction Wizard) into the `site-packages' directory that exists
      for packages like ESS.  If XEmacs was installed in the default
      location, then this directory can be found at `C:\Program
      Files\XEmacs\site-packages'.

   2. XEmacs requires the `HOME' environment variable to be defined.
      You can create it by visiting the following dialog:
      `Start->Control Panel->System->Advanced->Environment Variables' In
      the User variables window, press New.  And create a variable named
      `HOME' with a value something like (you must use forward slashes
      `/' rather than backslashes `\') `c:/Documents and
      Settings/%USERNAME%/Application Data'.  Then press OK for that
      window and press OK for the main window.  _If you also have GNU
      Emacs installed, GNU Emacs will recognize `HOME' and expand `~'
      accordingly._

   3. Now launch XEmacs and do a `C-x C-f' followed by a `~'.  From the
      Subdir menu, select Create Directory, and enter `.xemacs'

   4. Add the line
           (require 'ess-site)
      to `~/.xemacs/init.el' and restart XEmacs.

   5. If you see a buffer named `*ESS*', then the simple instructions
      were most likely successful.  If not, then read further.

    _GNU Emacs/XEmacs Advanced Instructions:_ If the previous simple
instructions did not work for some reason, then perhaps the more
detailed, manual instructions that follow will help.

... a revised version of the old instructions would follow.

-- 
Rodney Sparapani      Center for Patient Care & Outcomes Research (PCOR)
Sr. Biostatistician              http://www.mcw.edu/pcor
4 wheels good, 2 wheels better!  Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW)
WWLD?:  What Would Lombardi Do?  Milwaukee, WI, USA




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