Dear Simon, > -----Original Message----- > From: Simon Urbanek [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: January-09-09 3:01 PM > To: John Fox > Cc: R List > Subject: Re: [R-SIG-Mac] problems with the data editor > > John, > > thanks for the report. > > On Jan 9, 2009, at 14:07 , John Fox wrote: > > > Dear list members, > > > > I thought that I recalled a recent posting reporting a problem with > > the R > > data editor, but I haven't been able to locate the message in the list > > archive. > > > > In any event, I can reliably cause the R.app data editor either to > > hang or > > to produce errors in a couple of ways, the first of which is easier to > > describe (the X11 data editor seems more robust, if limited in its > > capabilities): > > > > (1) Edit an empty data frame (which works in the Windows and X11 data > > editors): edit(as.data.frame(NULL)). > > > > (2) Edit any data frame "vigorously," adding a deleting rows and > > columns > > repeatedly. E.g., library(car); edit(Prestige). > > > > I'm using R 2.8.1 installed from the binary on CRAN under OS X > > 10.5.5 on a > > MacBook. > > > > Can you, please, send me the crash reports you have? I can reproduce > some of it, but I wonder if it's caused by the same problems as your > crashes.
The crash produced by editing an empty data frame is simply for R to hang -- spinning ball, with an error message: SET_VECTOR_ELT() can only be applied to a 'list', not a 'NULL'. I have to force-quit from R. Simply editing a data frame "vigorously" has produced different errors, including hangs, but what happens seems to be variable. I just was able to generate the following: *** caught bus error *** address 0x6eb, cause 'non-existent physical address' Traceback: 1: edit.data.frame(Prestige) 2: edit(Prestige) Possible actions: 1: abort (with core dump, if enabled) 2: normal R exit 3: exit R without saving workspace 4: exit R saving workspace Selection: > > > > I wonder whether anyone else has observed these problems or has an > > idea > > about how to fix them. > > > > The data editor is horribly old code (or rather horrible, old code) > that desperately needs re-writing. The plan was originally to do that > for GUI 2.0, but it is not in sight due to the lack of manpower. I can > at least see if I can fortify it a bit better so it doesn't generate a > crash (I was hoping I won't have to do that since it's really an ugly > mess). FYI the nightly builds won't run the next three nights, because > we are having a complete shutdown here for maintenance until Monday, > so the R.app binaries won't be fixed until Tuesday. I'm sorry to make work for you. I think that it's probably better not to have a data editor than to have one that fails frequently. I don't use the data editor much myself, but new users in particular are put off by the instability, I believe. > > Thanks, > Simon > > > > (I'm copying Brian Ripley since we exchanged emails about this issue > > earlier > > today.) > > > > (Was it a BCC? I didn't see it in the e-mail ...). This is curious, since I've just confirmed that the message in my out-going mailbox had Brian as a CC. Oh well. Best, John > > > > Regards, > > John > > > > ------------------------------ > > John Fox, Professor > > Department of Sociology > > McMaster University > > Hamilton, Ontario, Canada > > web: socserv.mcmaster.ca/jfox > > > > _______________________________________________ > > R-SIG-Mac mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-mac > > > > _______________________________________________ R-SIG-Mac mailing list [email protected] https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-mac
