[ESS] ESS 5.3.8 released
Martin Maechler
maechler at stat.math.ethz.ch
Mon Jul 28 08:46:35 CEST 2008
Dear ESS users,
I've just uploaded a new release of ESS, 5.3.8, to our download
page http://stat.ethz.ch/ESS/downloads/ess/
There are not too many changes with respect to 5.3.7,
but still... the most important one will affect R users where
- now R is started (or re-started) automatically when the
user wants to evaluate R code.
then we have
- Better support for JAGS (as alternative to BUGS)
- SAS command settings
For a bit more detail, search forward to 'New Features in 5.3.8'
below.
For the ESS Development Team ('ESS-core'),
Martin Maechler, ETH Zurich
------------------
The ESS Developers proudly announce the release of ESS
5.3.8
Emacs Speaks Statistics (ESS) provides an intelligent, consistent
interface between the user and the software. ESS interfaces with
S-PLUS, R, SAS, BUGS and other statistical analysis packages under the
Unix, Microsoft Windows, and Apple Mac OS operating systems. ESS is a
package for the GNU Emacs and XEmacs text editors whose features ESS
uses to streamline the creation and use of statistical software. ESS
knows the syntax and grammar of statistical analysis packages and
provides consistent display and editing features based on that
knowledge. ESS assists in interactive and batch execution of
statements written in these statistical analysis languages.
ESS is freely available under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Please read the file COPYING which comes with the distribution, for
more information about the license. For more detailed information,
please read the README files that come with ESS.
1.1 Getting the Latest Version
==============================
The latest released version of ESS is always available on the web at:
ESS web page (http://ess.r-project.org) or StatLib
(http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/general/ESS/)
The latest development version of ESS is available via
`https://svn.R-project.org/ESS/', the ESS Subversion repository. If
you have a Subversion client (see `http://subversion.tigris.org/'), you
can download the sources using:
% svn checkout https://svn.r-project.org/ESS/trunk PATH
which will put the ESS files into directory PATH. Later, within
that directory, `svn update' will bring that directory up to date.
Windows-based tools such as TortoiseSVN are also available for
downloading the files. Alternatively, you can browse the sources with a
web browser at: ESS SVN site (https://svn.r-project.org/ESS/trunk).
However, please use a subversion client instead to minimize the load
when retrieving.
If you remove other versions of ESS from your emacs load-path, you
can then use the development version by adding the following to .emacs:
(load "/path/to/ess-svn/lisp/ess-site.el")
Note that https is required, and that the SSL certificate for the
Subversion server of the R project is
Certificate information:
- Hostname: svn.r-project.org
- Valid: from Jul 16 08:10:01 2004 GMT until Jul 14 08:10:01 2014 GMT
- Issuer: Department of Mathematics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, CH
- Fingerprint: c9:5d:eb:f9:f2:56:d1:04:ba:44:61:f8:64:6b:d9:33:3f:93:6e:ad
(currently, there is no "trusted certificate"). You can accept this
certificate permanently and will not be asked about it anymore.
1.2 Current Features
====================
* Languages Supported:
* S family (S 3/4, S-PLUS 3.x/4.x/5.x/6.x/7.x/8.x, and R)
* SAS
* BUGS/JAGS
* Stata
* XLispStat including Arc and ViSta
* Editing source code (S family, SAS, BUGS/JAGS, XLispStat)
* Syntactic indentation and highlighting of source code
* Partial evaluation of code
* Loading and error-checking of code
* Source code revision maintenance
* Batch execution (SAS, BUGS/JAGS)
* Use of imenu to provide links to appropriate functions
* Interacting with the process (S family, SAS, XLispStat)
* Command-line editing
* Searchable Command history
* Command-line completion of S family object names and file
names
* Quick access to object lists and search lists
* Transcript recording
* Interface to the help system
* Transcript manipulation (S family, XLispStat)
* Recording and saving transcript files
* Manipulating and editing saved transcripts
* Re-evaluating commands from transcript files
* Help File Editing (R)
* Syntactic indentation and highlighting of source code.
* Sending Examples to running ESS process.
* Previewing
1.3 Requirements
================
ESS has been tested with
* R >=0.49
* S-PLUS 3.3-4, 4.5, 2000, 5.0-1, 6.0-2, 7.0, 8.0
* S4
* SAS >=6.12
* BUGS 0.5, 0.6
* JAGS 1.0
* Stata >=6.0 (command line only)
on the following platforms
* Linux/x86 (all)
* Solaris (all)
* MS Windows 98/NT/2000/XP (R, S-PLUS, SAS interactive only, and
BUGS)
* Apple Mac OS X 10.4-5 (R, JAGS, Stata)
with the following versions of emacs
* GNU Emacs 20.3-7, 21.1, 21.3-4, 22.1
* XEmacs 21.4.0-8, 21.4.9-13(1), 21.4.14-15, 21.4.17-21 (betas not
supported, but 21.5.23+ may work)
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) require the files.el patch to revert-buffer for the Local
Variables updating problem
1.4 Stability
=============
Versions 5.3.x are meant to be release-quality versions. While some
new features are being introduced, we are cleaning up and improving the
interface. We know about some remaining documentation inconsistencies.
Patches or suggested fixes with bug reports are much appreciated!
1.5 Mailing List
================
There is a mailing list for discussions and announcements relating to
ESS. Join the list by sending an e-mail with "subscribe ess-help" (or
"help") in the body to <ess-help-request at stat.math.ethz.ch>;
contributions to the list may be mailed to
<ess-help at stat.math.ethz.ch>. Rest assured, this is a fairly
low-volume mailing list.
The purposes of the mailing list include
* helping users of ESS to get along with it.
* discussing aspects of using ESS on Emacs and XEmacs.
* suggestions for improvements.
* announcements of new releases of ESS.
* posting small patches to ESS.
1.6 Reporting Bugs
==================
Please send bug reports, suggestions etc. to
<ESS-bugs at stat.math.ethz.ch>
The easiest way to do this is within Emacs by typing
`M-x ess-submit-bug-report'
This also gives the maintainers valuable information about your
installation which may help us to identify or even fix the bug.
If Emacs reports an error, backtraces can help us debug the problem.
Type "M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET". Then run the
command that causes the error and you should see a *Backtrace* buffer
containing debug information; send us that buffer.
Note that comments, suggestions, words of praise and large cash
donations are also more than welcome.
1.7 Authors
===========
* A.J. Rossini (mailto:blindglobe at gmail.com)
* Richard M. Heiberger (mailto:rmh at temple.edu)
* Kurt Hornik (mailto:Kurt.Hornik at R-project.org)
* Martin Maechler (mailto:maechler at stat.math.ethz.ch)
* Rodney A. Sparapani (mailto:rsparapa at mcw.edu)
* Stephen Eglen (mailto:stephen at gnu.org)
1.8 License
===========
ESS is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later
version.
ESS is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
in the file COPYING in the same directory as this file for more details.
1.9 New Features
================
Changes/New Features in 5.3.8:
* ESS[JAGS]: more separation from ESS[BUGS] (as much as is currently
planned); now `C-c C-c' on an empty `.jmd' creates a template as
it should; symbolic links are created for CODA output so BOA is
happy: from `index.txt' to `.ind' and `chain#.txt' to `#.out'
* ESS[SAS]: buffer-local `ess-sas-submit-command' and
`ess-sas-submit-command-options' now recognized by
`ess-sas-submit-region'
* ESS[S]: When trying to evaluate code in an S language buffer and
there is no associated process, now start R automatically instead
of signalling an error. Also, restart R if there is an
associated process which is not running. However, do not start R
just via the "electric" `(' (`ess-r-args-auto-show').
* ESS[S]: For (one-line) functions withOUT '{ .. }' bodys, the end
of function is now correctly found more often. This notably
improves `C-c C-c' (`ess-eval-function-or-paragraph-and-step').
* ESS[JAGS]: cleanup/re-organization of elisp code; symbolic links
for CODA output are now only created by the new JAGS `system'
command in version 1.0.3; specify whether this command is
available via `ess-jags-system'; if not present, then no links are
created so that the `*shell*' buffer does not become unresponsive
during the batch run
Changes/New Features in 5.3.7:
* ESS: `ess-default-style' now *is* customizable, i.e., changing
its value in `~/.emacs' now does have the desired effect.
* ESS: `ess-font-lock-mode' is a new variable (default: t) which
controls whether font-locking is enabled in ESS buffers.
* ESS[R]: for XEmacs on Windows; another tweak to find R versions
* ESS[SAS]: font-locking updated for ODS and SAS Bayesian Procedures;
a more consistent handling of SAS options by
`ess-sas-submit-command-options' which is buffer-local; portable
snooze for MS Windows via customize-able `ess-sleep-for' (floats
welcome); Xpdf now supported as a PDF viewer
* ESS[Rnw]: now also works with "emacs -nw" and Emacs 22.
* ESS[JAGS]: now requires JAGS 1.0 (see the new ESS for JAGS help
section for more information): both need work; suggestions welcome
* ESS[R]: [TAB] completion now uses the R-internal completion
mechanism (for R >= 2.5.0).
* ESS[R] ([S]): interpretation of "_" as assignment has been removed
in `ess-continued-statement-p' for R and S.
* several internal code cleanups.
* ESS[R]: An experimental version of a new command `Rgui' on MS
Windows to send lines directly from emacs to `Rgui' is available
in file `lisp/essd-rgui.el'. Preliminary documentation is in file
`doc/rgui-doc.txt'.
Changes/New Features in 5.3.6:
* ESS: for XEmacs, using "gnuclient" (without a "-q") works for
things like fix() after M-x gnuserv-start has been done.
* ESS[R]: M-x R-newest should now work in more situations on MS
Windows, e.g., when R has been installed in a non-default
"ProgramFiles" directory tree. In these cases, there's no need
to specify the name (and full path) of the R program anymore.
* ESS[R]: For XEmacs, startup (with new tooltip code) works again.
Changes/New Features in 5.3.5:
* ESS[R] a new defun is available, `M-x R-newest', which will start
the newest version of R that it can find on your system.
* ESS[R] add Sven Hartenstein's "R function arguments tips"
functionality, via new file `../lisp/essd-r-args.el'. Note that
this includes an "electric "("" behavior inside `R-mode' which is
_active by default_ and can be customized via
`ess-r-args-electric-paren'; i.e., use `(setq
ess-r-args-electric-paren nil)' to turn it off. Further,
`ess-r-args-show-as' allows to switch to the "tooltip" mode.
* ESS: functions `ess-get-pdf-viewer' and *-ps-viewer; built on new
customizable variables `ess-pdf-viewer-pref' and
`ess-ps-viewer-pref'; currently used in `ess-swv-PDF' and `*-PS'.
* ESS[R] Improved `ess-swv-PDF' to run pdf viewer only if pdflatex
was ok
* ESS[R] Improved `ess-swv-weave' to start R automatically if none
is running.
* ESS: Do no longer ask _which_ ESS process to use if there is only
one.
Changes/New Features in 5.3.4:
* ESS[R] now better work with options(error=recover); and the new
default of CHM help files on windows.
* ESS[R] some more cleanup in the "sweave" functions
* miscellaneous fixes
Changes/New Features in 5.3.3:
* ESS[S] fix buglet (5.3.2 only) which left command prompt in
"execute buffer" and hence help files.
* new customizable variable `ess-display-buffer-reuse-frames' set to
true (which changes default behavior) such that execution or help
*frames* are reused.
Changes/New Features in 5.3.2:
* Classic BUGS now supported by `(require 'essd-bugs)' with ESS[BUGS]
and JAGS by `(require 'essd-jags)' with ESS[JAGS]. But,
only one of them can be used at a time since they don't play
nice together. Also, `C-c C-c' is now bound to the function
`ess-bugs-next-action' (`F12' has been retired). And
finally, note that `essl-bug.el' is deprecated and the
replacement is `essl-bugs.el'.
* ESS[R] Improved some of the "Sweave-make" functions (yet scarcely
documented) in `ess-swv.el'.
* ESS[S] No longer mess with .Last.value (nor in other "languages").
Changes/New Features in 5.3.1:
* See the docs for 2 ways to install ESS for XEmacs
1. by uncommenting the XEmacs part of Section 1 of
`Makeconf' and performing `make install'
2. by unpacking either `ess-5.3.1.tgz' or
`ess-5.3.1.zip' into
`PREFIX/lib/xemacs/site-packages' on unix or
`PREFIX\XEmacs\site-packages' on windows
* ESS[R]: fixed bugs so that Rterm.exe can be found by XEmacs
* ESS[S]: `ess-toggle-S-assign-key' is slightly changed; in
particular, the default `ess-assign-key' is now `C-x ='.
* ESS[R]: `M-x R-site-search' is a new (slightly experimental)
utility similar to R's `RSiteSearch(..)' but with the advantage of
using Emacs' preferred browser, see `browse-url-browser-function'
Changes/New Features in 5.3.0:
* ESS[BUGS]: sanely re-format statistical output, `.bog', from
scientific notation to numbers rounded with 4 decimal places with
`M-x ess-bugs-sci-round-to-4-dp'.
* The keys for navigating among section headings in help buffers
worked, but only for one language per session; they should now
work for multiple languages. (They were also broken on Windows
machines.)
* ESS[S] long standing buglets in the internal logic for loading
lisp code on Windows. Particularly fixed behavior in help mode
with S-plus GUI.
* New variable, `ess-use-inferior-program-name-in-buffer-name',
which enables using the executable name instead of the dialect
name for R. Feature request.
* ESS[S] `ess-execute-screen-options' now also works correctly when
there is more than one window *side-by-side* in the same frame and
runs in the correct buffer also when there is more than one S
buffer.
* iESS[S] new functions `ess-eval-paragraph-and-step' and
`ess-eval-function-or-paragraph-and-step' are bound to keys `C-c
C-p' and `C-c C-c' respectively and to the menu in ESS-mode; also
bound in the help mode (for evaluating examples).
* ESS[S] new function `ess-toggle-S-assign-key' allows to assign the
" <- " insertion to an arbitrary key.
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