R help - Jul 2009 - Displaying function arguments using a Windows R console

I am relatively new to R, and would appreciate any suggestions you may have.

I noticed on a Mac the functions' arguments are listed at the bottom of the
R console.

Is it possible to add such a feature to a Windows R console? I have Windows XP
if that helps.

I know function arguments can be found using args(...), but I was wanting to
have something more automatic, like what I saw on the Mac computer.

I went into GUI preferences, but was not sure what to do. I noticed for
graphics, the playwith package can be used....I was wondering if there was
something similar to this for the arguments of functions in R.

Thank you,
Laura



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On Jul 31, 2009, at 2:35 PM, Laura S. wrote:
> I am relatively new to R, and would appreciate any suggestions you  
> may have.
>
> I noticed on a Mac the functions' arguments are listed at the bottom  
> of the R console.
>
> Is it possible to add such a feature to a Windows R console? I have  
> Windows XP if that helps.
>
> I know function arguments can be found using args(...), but I was  
> wanting to have something more automatic, like what I saw on the Mac  
> computer.
>
> I went into GUI preferences, but was not sure what to do. I noticed  
> for graphics, the playwith package can be used....I was wondering if  
> there was something similar to this for the arguments of functions  
> in R.
>
I believe the feature to which you are referring is the one called  
"function hints". This is a fairly recent answer to this question from
a source that is generally authoritative:

http://finzi.psych.upenn.edu/Rhelp08/2009-July/203189.html

The follow-up exchange also appears worth reading for Windows users.


David Winsemius, MD
Heritage Laboratories
West Hartford, CT