R devel - Jun 2008 - savePlot() no longer automatically adds an extension to the filename.

Plaintive squeak: Why the change? 

Some OS's and desktops use the extension, so forgetting it causes
trouble. The new default filename keeps a filetype (as before) but the
user now has to type a filetype twice (once as the type, once as
extension) to get the same effect fo rtheir own filenames. And the
extension isn't then checked for consistency with valid file types, so
it can be mistyped and saved with no warning. Hard to see the advantage
of doing away with it...

Suggestion: Revert to the previous default (extension as type) and
include an 'extension' in the parameter list so that folk who don't
want
it can change it and folk who did want it get it automatically.

 
The code would then look something like 

savePlot<-function (filename = "Rplot", 
	type = c("wmf", "emf", "png", "jpg",
"jpeg", "bmp", "tif",
"tiff", "ps", "eps", "pdf"),
	device = dev.cur(), 
	restoreConsole = TRUE,
	extension)   #Added extension
{
    type <- match.arg(type)
    if(missing(extension)) 
           extension <- type	         ##added
    devlist <- dev.list()
    devcur <- match(device, devlist, NA)
    if (is.na(devcur)) 
        stop("no such device")
    devname <- names(devlist)[devcur]
    if (devname != "windows") 
        stop("can only copy from 'windows' devices")
    if (filename == "clipboard" && type == "wmf") 
        filename <- ""
      else
        fullname <- paste(filename, extension,
sep=ifelse(extension=="","",".") )  ##added
    invisible(.External(CsavePlot, device, fullname, type,
restoreConsole))            ##Modded
}

Steve E

PS Yes, I took a while to upgrade from 2.6.x. Otherwise I'd have
squeaked the day I upgraded - like I just did - 'cos I use savePlot a
LOT.



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Not sure if this is sufficient but note that if you leave the filename
off entirely then the extension does default to the type.

savePlot() # wmf
savePlot(type = "jpg")
> args(savePlot)
function (filename = paste("Rplot", type, sep = "."), type =
c("wmf",
    "emf", "png", "jpg", "jpeg",
"bmp", "tif", "tiff", "ps",
    "eps", "pdf"), device = dev.cur(), restoreConsole =
TRUE)

https://svn.r-project.org/R/trunk/src/library/grDevices/R/windows/windows.R

On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 11:22 AM, S Ellison <S.Ellison at lgc.co.uk>
wrote:
> Plaintive squeak: Why the change?
>
> Some OS's and desktops use the extension, so forgetting it causes
> trouble. The new default filename keeps a filetype (as before) but the
> user now has to type a filetype twice (once as the type, once as
> extension) to get the same effect fo rtheir own filenames. And the
> extension isn't then checked for consistency with valid file types, so
> it can be mistyped and saved with no warning. Hard to see the advantage
> of doing away with it...
>
> Suggestion: Revert to the previous default (extension as type) and
> include an 'extension' in the parameter list so that folk who
don't want
> it can change it and folk who did want it get it automatically.
>
>
> The code would then look something like
>
> savePlot<-function (filename = "Rplot",
>        type = c("wmf", "emf", "png",
"jpg", "jpeg", "bmp", "tif",
> "tiff", "ps", "eps", "pdf"),
>        device = dev.cur(),
>        restoreConsole = TRUE,
>        extension)   #Added extension
> {
>    type <- match.arg(type)
>    if(missing(extension))
>           extension <- type             ##added
>    devlist <- dev.list()
>    devcur <- match(device, devlist, NA)
>    if (is.na(devcur))
>        stop("no such device")
>    devname <- names(devlist)[devcur]
>    if (devname != "windows")
>        stop("can only copy from 'windows' devices")
>    if (filename == "clipboard" && type ==
"wmf")
>        filename <- ""
>      else
>        fullname <- paste(filename, extension,
> sep=ifelse(extension=="","",".") )  ##added
>    invisible(.External(CsavePlot, device, fullname, type,
> restoreConsole))            ##Modded
> }
>
> Steve E
>
> PS Yes, I took a while to upgrade from 2.6.x. Otherwise I'd have
> squeaked the day I upgraded - like I just did - 'cos I use savePlot a
> LOT.
>
>
>
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>
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> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>

"S Ellison" <S.Ellison at lgc.co.uk> wrote:
> Plaintive squeak: Why the change? 
> 
> Some OS's and desktops use the extension, so forgetting it causes
> trouble. The new default filename keeps a filetype (as before) but the
> user now has to type a filetype twice (once as the type, once as
> extension) to get the same effect fo rtheir own filenames. And the
> extension isn't then checked for consistency with valid file types, so
> it can be mistyped and saved with no warning. Hard to see the advantage
> of doing away with it...
Just for the record. . .

This change broke a *lot* of my code, including code used by
others.  Windows depends on file extensions.  Fortunately, fixes
using getRversion are not too difficult.

-- 
Mike Prager, NOAA, Beaufort, NC
* Opinions expressed are personal and not represented otherwise.
* Any use of tradenames does not constitute a NOAA endorsement.

On 6/3/2008 11:22 AM, S Ellison wrote:
> Plaintive squeak: Why the change? 
> 
> Some OS's and desktops use the extension, so forgetting it causes
> trouble. The new default filename keeps a filetype (as before) but the
> user now has to type a filetype twice (once as the type, once as
> extension) to get the same effect fo rtheir own filenames. And the
> extension isn't then checked for consistency with valid file types, so
> it can be mistyped and saved with no warning. Hard to see the advantage
> of doing away with it...
> 
> Suggestion: Revert to the previous default (extension as type) and
> include an 'extension' in the parameter list so that folk who
don't want
> it can change it and folk who did want it get it automatically.
> 
>  
> The code would then look something like 
> 
> savePlot<-function (filename = "Rplot", 
> 	type = c("wmf", "emf", "png",
"jpg", "jpeg", "bmp", "tif",
> "tiff", "ps", "eps", "pdf"),
> 	device = dev.cur(), 
> 	restoreConsole = TRUE,
> 	extension)   #Added extension
> {
>     type <- match.arg(type)
>     if(missing(extension)) 
>            extension <- type	         ##added
>     devlist <- dev.list()
>     devcur <- match(device, devlist, NA)
>     if (is.na(devcur)) 
>         stop("no such device")
>     devname <- names(devlist)[devcur]
>     if (devname != "windows") 
>         stop("can only copy from 'windows' devices")
>     if (filename == "clipboard" && type ==
"wmf")
>         filename <- ""
>       else
>         fullname <- paste(filename, extension,
> sep=ifelse(extension=="","",".") )  ##added
>     invisible(.External(CsavePlot, device, fullname, type,
> restoreConsole))            ##Modded
> }
> 
> Steve E
> 
> PS Yes, I took a while to upgrade from 2.6.x. Otherwise I'd have
> squeaked the day I upgraded - like I just did - 'cos I use savePlot a
> LOT.
Another way to avoid surprises like this is to pay attention to the 
daily announcements of changes.  This one was announced back in February:

http://developer.r-project.org/blosxom.cgi/R-devel/CHANGES/2008/02/26#c2008-02-26

Personally, I would have chosen to add an extension if the name 
contained no dot, but I didn't make this change, and don't really see a 
problem with it.  However, if you want to submit a patch that does this 
(including changes to src/library/grDevices/R/windows/windows.R, 
src/library/grDevices/man/windows/savePlot.Rd, and to 
src/gnuwin32/CHANGES) before Friday, I'll commit it.

Duncan Murdoch

>>> Michael Prager <Mike.Prager at noaa.gov> 06/04/08 4:28 AM
>>>
>There is much to be said for consistency (across platforms and 
>functions) and stability (across versions) in software.
I could not agree more. But while consistency  is an excellent reason
for making the patch consistent across platforms, it doesn't help decide
what the consistent behaviour should be. It is as strong an argument for
retaining the original behaviour at 2.6.x as for keeping a change. 

As to filename extensions or their lack; in practice, RGui.exe addds a
defult Rdata extension on saving a workspace via the GUI, and so does
saving history, so we already have overwriteable default extensions for
those purposes even though the command line behaviour doesn't do that. 
And it genuinely does help, which is my main motivation here.

The main advantage of the present patch is that it delivers _most_ of
the optional behaviours missing from both 2.6.2 and 2.7.0 without adding
an extra parameter. But it isn't the best that could be done. If there
is a platform-independent way of keeping the default extension-by-type
and allowing the option of removing it entirely (in other words, an
extra parameter to savePlot) I'd personally see that as a better way
forward than the present patch. 
An alternative might be to keep the 2.7.0 savePlot and define a new
convenience function (SavePlot, say, or save.plot for extra dottiness) 
which provides the wrapper. It would have impact on legacy code, but it
is a lot easier to change a function name throughout legacy code than to
change supplied parameters.

In the mean time, consistency arguments would indicate that the present
patch should be applied to all platforms if at all.

Steve E

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Apologies; in my last post (below) I should have distinguished between
action on the current patch and suggested action for the future.

I bow to Duncan on the fate of the current patch, as he's managing it.

The suggestions of an extra savePlot parameter or a wrapper function
with extension default were suggestions for possible future tidying-up
in subsequent releases.

Steve E
>>> "S Ellison" <S.Ellison at lgc.co.uk> 06/04/08 12:44
PM >>>
>>> Michael Prager <Mike.Prager at noaa.gov> 06/04/08 4:28 AM
>>>
>There is much to be said for consistency (across platforms and 
>functions) and stability (across versions) in software.
I could not agree more. But while consistency  is an excellent reason
for making the patch consistent across platforms, it doesn't help decide
what the consistent behaviour should be. It is as strong an argument for
retaining the original behaviour at 2.6.x as for keeping a change. 

As to filename extensions or their lack; in practice, RGui.exe addds a
defult Rdata extension on saving a workspace via the GUI, and so does
saving history, so we already have overwriteable default extensions for
those purposes even though the command line behaviour doesn't do that. 
And it genuinely does help, which is my main motivation here.

The main advantage of the present patch is that it delivers _most_ of
the optional behaviours missing from both 2.6.2 and 2.7.0 without adding
an extra parameter. But it isn't the best that could be done. If there
is a platform-independent way of keeping the default extension-by-type
and allowing the option of removing it entirely (in other words, an
extra parameter to savePlot) I'd personally see that as a better way
forward than the present patch. 
An alternative might be to keep the 2.7.0 savePlot and define a new
convenience function (SavePlot, say, or save.plot for extra dottiness) 
which provides the wrapper. It would have impact on legacy code, but it
is a lot easier to change a function name throughout legacy code than to
change supplied parameters.

In the mean time, consistency arguments would indicate that the present
patch should be applied to all platforms if at all.

Steve E

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