Full_Name: Paul Vet Version: 2.0.1 OS: Windows 2000 Submission from: (NULL) (65.95.10.51) The file selector for saving plots always starts in the R program directory. It is standard for Windows programs to start the file selector in the most recently saved-in directory. Steps to reproduce: 1. > plot (x) # for some data x 2. Right click new plot, choose "Save as postscript..." 3. Choose a different directory (e.g. "My Documents\R\foo.ps") 4. Again, right click the plot, selecting "Save as postscript..." 5. The file chooser will open, with the R install directory as the starting location Expected Behaviour: The chooser dialog should start in the most-recently used directory.
The documented behaviour is for it to always start in the R working directory. That it does. To do what it is documented to do is not a bug. On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 rvet@uwaterloo.ca wrote:> Full_Name: Paul Vet > Version: 2.0.1 > OS: Windows 2000 > Submission from: (NULL) (65.95.10.51) > > > The file selector for saving plots always starts in the R program > directory. It is standard for Windows programs to start the file > selector in the most recently saved-in directory. > > Steps to reproduce: > 1. > plot (x) # for some data x > 2. Right click new plot, choose "Save as postscript..." > 3. Choose a different directory (e.g. "My Documents\R\foo.ps") > 4. Again, right click the plot, selecting "Save as postscript..." > 5. The file chooser will open, with the R install directory as the starting > locationNot true: it does use the current working directory.> Expected Behaviour: > The chooser dialog should start in the most-recently used directory.So, you did not bother to read the README: The `load' menu items (Source R code, Display file, Load Workspace) keep track of the directory that was last used, and start their dialog boxes from that directory the next time they are used. That directory can be made the working directory by the File | Change dir menu item. All the `save' menu items start dialog boxes at the current working directory: this includes `Save Workspace' and the various ways to save graphics, as well as saving the workspace at the end of the session. R users have found this more convenient. -- Brian D. Ripley, ripley@stats.ox.ac.uk Professor of Applied Statistics, http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/ University of Oxford, Tel: +44 1865 272861 (self) 1 South Parks Road, +44 1865 272866 (PA) Oxford OX1 3TG, UK Fax: +44 1865 272595
Hi Professor, Thanks for the clarifications. I appreciate your patience. That said, if I could make a couple suggestions: 1. The Help menu disappears when the Console isn't the focused window. As such, I didn't see the glaringly obvious "FAQ on R for Windows" which would have answered my question right off the bat. Perhaps having the Help menu present for all sub-windows would help future newbies? 2. I'm still hung up on the Save As.. issue. After this I promise I'll drop it, but it's quite the non-conventional way to act. To quote the Official Microsoft UI Guidelines (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwue/html/ch09d.asp) The Save in drop-down list box indicates the immediate container in the directory path (or folder). The user can change the path by using this control and the list of files box. If the file already exists, save it to its original location. This means that <b>the current path for the Save As dialog box should always be set to the path where the file was last saved</b>. If the file has never been saved, save the file with your application's default path setting (which should typically be in the My Documents folder) or to the location defined by the user, either by typing the path or by using the controls in the dialog box. [Emphasis mine] This just felt like a simple oversight to me, and I was suprised to hear that it was considered a feature. My apologies for being persistent, I'll drop the issue now. Just trying to give you the perspective that I have as a Windows user new to your app. Thanks again, Paul Vet.