R devel - Nov 2002 - Problems with dialog boxes etc. in XEmacs/ESS for Windows

Dear list members,

I'm experiencing a variety of intermittent problems with GUI-related 
commands (e.g., for dialog boxes and graphics-device windows) in R for 
Windows running under XEmacs/ESS. I'm using version 1.6.1 of R, version 
21.4.9 of XEmacs, version 1.02 of ESS, and various versions of Windows, 
including 2000, 95, and 98SE.

The problems don't occur in every circumstance, but they are reproducible 
to a degree. For example, if upon opening an R-process buffer under ESS on 
a Windows 95 machine, I immediately issue the command

winDialog("ok", "test")

no dialog opens, and the R process hangs. The same command works OK in the 
same situation on several Windows 2000 systems, and also works later in a 
session under Windows 95. Similarly, on Windows 2000, I find that the "File
-> Save as" menu item in graphics-device windows doesn't work
(nothing
happens when the item is selected), but the "File -> Copy to the
clipboard"
menu item does work.

All of the GUI-related functions appear to work fine when I run rterm.exe 
directly at the command prompt, rather than through ESS.

I wonder whether anyone understands why these things are happening and, if 
so, whether there's a solution. (I can furnish more details if that would 
help.)

Thanks,
  John
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John Fox
Department of Sociology
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4M4
email: jfox@mcmaster.ca
phone: 905-525-9140x23604
web: www.socsci.mcmaster.ca/jfox
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