[R] Cairo SVG backend

[Sam McClatchie]

System: 2.6.0
Linux kernel 2.6.15 Ubuntu dapper
R version 2.5.1
ESS 5.2.11 on Emacs 21.4.1

Colleagues

I am still struggling to produce SVG file output in R.

I initially started with RSvgDevice package. I produced a simple graphic
from an example in the documentation and it imported into Inkscape fine
and could be edited. However, my application involves plotting
bathymetry and coastlines with the PBSmapping, and the plots contain a
lot of data. Although I can still produce a file, and the screen graphic
looks fine, Inkscape will not load the 1.8 MB file.

I wasn't sure if the problem was with Inkscape or with the SVG file. I
thought I'd try the Cairo package to see if RSvgDevice was failing
because of the file size.  I've install Cairo and used update.packages()
to get the 1.3-5 version which has the SVG device driver. However, the
Cairo.capabilities() function returns true for png, jpeg, and x11, but
false for
svg, ps, pdf and tiff. The error message returned from the call to
Cairo_svg() is "Cairo compiled without svg device". So my question is:
How do you to compile Cairo with the svg device? Do you have to do this
from source with some --enabled switch? The install.packages() and
update.packages() does not seem to do it?

Best fishes

Sam
-- 
Sam McClatchie,
Fisheries oceanographer
Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA,
8604 La Jolla Shores Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037-1508, U.S.A.
email <Sam.McClatchie at noaa.gov>
work phone: 858 546 7083
Cellular:  858 752 8495
Research home page <http://www.fishocean.info>

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