Paulo Barata
2022-May-16 17:45 UTC
[Rd] Writing in R // R 4.2.0 on Windows doesn't work with Dasher
Dear Tomas, Thank you very much for dealing with this issue. You said: "I've committed a fix to R-devel, 82368". It happens that, at this very moment (Monday 16 May 18:44 UTC), The R-devel that exists on both the Austria and the 0-Cloud CRAN pages is this, with a different (smaller) number: This is a Windows 64 bit binary build of the 2022-05-15 r82362 development snapshot of R Anyway, I installed and tried this R-devel r82362, and Dasher does not work with it. I am not able to find R-Devel 82368 on the CRAN site. Maybe I should wait a little more. Or maybe you could send me a proper link to that. Best regards, Paulo Barata ---------------------------------------------------------- On 16/05/2022 14:08, Tomas Kalibera wrote:> > On 5/15/22 16:10, Paulo Barata wrote: >> >> To the R developers, >> >> I noticed today that R 4.2.0 responds to the "Enter" character of >> Dasher version 5.0.0 beta in "Direct Entry" mode. An "Enter" in Dasher >> causes the R prompt to jump to the next line, as an "Enter" should do. >> >> No other characters (letters, digits, special characters like + = & ~ >> | # $) are accepted by R 4.2.0 through Dasher. >> >> The "Enter" shows that, somehow, the communication between Dasher and >> R 4.2.0 through the Windows system is not completely curtailed. > > Dear Paulo, > > thanks for the report and thanks to all for the useful comments in the > followup discussion. I've committed a fix to R-devel, 82368, and I would > be grateful if you could test whether it fixes the problem for you. I've > tested it only on a small example which is using the same method to > insert keys to Rgui as Dasher does. > > The problem is caused by a limitation in GraphApp, a library used by > Rgui and included in the R distribution. GraphApp has two modes: Unicode > windows (with this limitation) and non-Unicode windows (without it). > GraphApp uses Unicode windows when running in a multi-byte locale, and > as of R 4.2, this is the case for all systems on recent Windows where > the native encoding is UTF-8. This means that most likely R 4.1.3 didn't > work with Dasher on systems running in a multi-byte locale and that most > likely R 4.2.0 would work with Dasher on old Windows systems (where > UTF-8 cannot be used as native encoding). > > Dasher uses SendInput/KEYEVENTF_UNICODE to inject text into Rgui, which > is fine as far as I can tell and should work. It didn't work, because > the Unicode windows didn't handle WM_CHAR nor WM_KEYDOWN/WM_KEYUP for > VK_PACKET. By design, Unicode windows get input via WM_IME_COMPOSITION > and WM_KEYDOWN, so I've added support for VK_PACKET to WM_KEYDOWN > (taking the logic in gdk as an example). > > I am cc'ing Jose as Tinn-R has a similar problem, though this patch > doesn't solve it. > > Best > Tomas > >> >> Regards, >> >> Paulo Barata >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------- >> >> On 13/05/2022 16:44, Paulo Barata wrote: >>> To the R developers, >>> >>> I would like to point out an issue that occurs with the new R 4.2.0 >>> running on Windows; this is possibly related to the recent wide >>> changes made to the Windows port of R. The issue has to do with >>> writing of the R window. >>> >>> My computer runs on Windows 10 Professional 64-bit with all the >>> latest updates, and has a 4-core 8-thread Intel Xeon processor with >>> 32 Gb of RAM. >>> >>> I have some slight impairment in my hands, so for typing I avoid >>> using the computer keyboard as much as possible. For most of my >>> typing, I use the software Dasher, a kind of assistive technology >>> software. Dasher was created by the Inference Group led by Professor >>> David MacKay (died in 2016) at Cambridge University in England. >>> Later, Dasher was further developed by Ada Majorek (a Google >>> engineer, recently deceased). >>> >>> General information on Dasher and about the Dasher Project can be >>> found on the Inference Group page: >>> >>> http://www.inference.org.uk/dasher/ >>> >>> An example of Dasher in action can be seen on this 2-minute YouTube >>> video: >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr3s4613DX8 >>> >>> An one-hour YouTube video of a 2007 Google Talk by Professor MacKay >>> himself explaining the Dasher concept can be found here: >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpOxbesRNBc >>> >>> In the 2-minute video (the first YouTube address above), the sentence >>> written through Dasher, for actual use, needs to be copied and then >>> pasted into another software, say a text editor. But Dasher also has >>> a "Direct Entry" mode, where words typed are entered directly on the >>> screen of the text editor or other software -- this is how I use >>> Dasher to write on the R window. >>> >>> Using Dasher`s "Direct Entry" mode, for all effects, to write a word >>> through Dasher works exactly like writing the word through the normal >>> computer keyboard. Somehow (I do not know about system programming), >>> in "Direct Entry" mode, the output of Dasher is understood by the >>> computer as an input of the same nature as a keyboard input. >>> >>> But this is the issue: until R 4.1.3, R accepted normally the >>> word-typing through Dasher. But R 4.2.0 (and R 4.2.0-patched build >>> r82348, 12 May 2022) does not accept Dasher anymore. >>> >>> So, for now, if I wish to use R during some extended interactive >>> section (say, for a first look at a complex data set), and if I wish >>> to use Dasher for this interactive session, then I have to use R >>> 4.1.3. For using R through programming, I can use the new R 4.2.0, by >>> writing the program with Dasher in my text editor, and then pasting >>> that program into R. >>> >>> The latest Windows version of Dasher, version 5.0.0 beta, works >>> perfectly well with text editors (I use EditPad Pro), with >>> Microsoft-like Office packages (I use SoftMaker Office), for writing >>> e-mails (I use Mozilla Thunderbird), for writing on a web page (I use >>> mostly Mozilla Firefox). It worked perfectly well with R up to >>> version 4.1.3, but it does not work with R 4.2.0 >>> >>> The latest Dasher 5.0.0 beta Windows installer and the source code >>> can be found on this page below (please click on "Windows installer" >>> and on "source code", just below the head "Dasher 5.0 beta release"): >>> >>> https://github.com/dasher-project/dasher/releases >>> >>> To set Dasher 5.0.0 beta to the "Direct Entry" mode, after installing >>> Dasher one should go to Preferences > Application > Application Style. >>> >>> Currently, after the passing of Ada Majorek, the Dasher Project is >>> being put forward by a group of people in England, but, it seems, at >>> a very slow pace. They have announced the existence of a version 6 >>> beta, but this is only an online instance of Dasher, there is no >>> Windows installer, as far as I know. Their web page: >>> >>> https://dasher.acecentre.net/ >>> >>> For me, and possibly for other users, the Dasher version 5.0.0 beta >>> for Windows that is available works perfectly well, and allows me to >>> use the computer with a proficiency that would be hardly possible >>> otherwise. >>> >>> Here I request that the R developers take a look at this word-typing >>> issue that happens with the new R 4.2.0 on Windows. >>> >>> As an R user (I work in ecological research), I can only thank the R >>> team for this really wonderful piece of statistical software that you >>> make freely available to us all. >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> Paulo Barata >>> >>> (Rio de Janeiro - Brazil) >>> >>> ______________________________________________ >>> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list >>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel >> >> ______________________________________________ >> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
Tomas Kalibera
2022-May-16 17:50 UTC
[Rd] Writing in R // R 4.2.0 on Windows doesn't work with Dasher
On 5/16/22 19:45, Paulo Barata wrote:> > Dear Tomas, > > Thank you very much for dealing with this issue. > > You said: "I've committed a fix to R-devel, 82368". It happens that, > at this very moment (Monday 16 May 18:44 UTC), The R-devel that exists > on both the Austria and the 0-Cloud CRAN pages is this, with a > different (smaller) number: > > This is a Windows 64 bit binary build of the 2022-05-15 r82362 > development snapshot of R > > Anyway, I installed and tried this R-devel r82362, and Dasher does not > work with it. > > I am not able to find R-Devel 82368 on the CRAN site. Maybe I should > wait a little more. Or maybe you could send me a proper link to that.Thanks, Paulo, yes,? it needs to be a version >= 82368 (and it may take several hours to appear), but at least you have now a baseline negative test using R-devel. Best Tomas> > Best regards, > > Paulo Barata > > ---------------------------------------------------------- > > On 16/05/2022 14:08, Tomas Kalibera wrote: >> >> On 5/15/22 16:10, Paulo Barata wrote: >>> >>> To the R developers, >>> >>> I noticed today that R 4.2.0 responds to the "Enter" character of >>> Dasher version 5.0.0 beta in "Direct Entry" mode. An "Enter" in >>> Dasher causes the R prompt to jump to the next line, as an "Enter" >>> should do. >>> >>> No other characters (letters, digits, special characters like + = & >>> ~ | # $) are accepted by R 4.2.0 through Dasher. >>> >>> The "Enter" shows that, somehow, the communication between Dasher >>> and R 4.2.0 through the Windows system is not completely curtailed. >> >> Dear Paulo, >> >> thanks for the report and thanks to all for the useful comments in >> the followup discussion. I've committed a fix to R-devel, 82368, and >> I would be grateful if you could test whether it fixes the problem >> for you. I've tested it only on a small example which is using the >> same method to insert keys to Rgui as Dasher does. >> >> The problem is caused by a limitation in GraphApp, a library used by >> Rgui and included in the R distribution. GraphApp has two modes: >> Unicode windows (with this limitation) and non-Unicode windows >> (without it). GraphApp uses Unicode windows when running in a >> multi-byte locale, and as of R 4.2, this is the case for all systems >> on recent Windows where the native encoding is UTF-8. This means that >> most likely R 4.1.3 didn't work with Dasher on systems running in a >> multi-byte locale and that most likely R 4.2.0 would work with Dasher >> on old Windows systems (where UTF-8 cannot be used as native encoding). >> >> Dasher uses SendInput/KEYEVENTF_UNICODE to inject text into Rgui, >> which is fine as far as I can tell and should work. It didn't work, >> because the Unicode windows didn't handle WM_CHAR nor >> WM_KEYDOWN/WM_KEYUP for VK_PACKET. By design, Unicode windows get >> input via WM_IME_COMPOSITION and WM_KEYDOWN, so I've added support >> for VK_PACKET to WM_KEYDOWN (taking the logic in gdk as an example). >> >> I am cc'ing Jose as Tinn-R has a similar problem, though this patch >> doesn't solve it. >> >> Best >> Tomas >> >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> Paulo Barata >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------------------- >>> >>> On 13/05/2022 16:44, Paulo Barata wrote: >>>> To the R developers, >>>> >>>> I would like to point out an issue that occurs with the new R 4.2.0 >>>> running on Windows; this is possibly related to the recent wide >>>> changes made to the Windows port of R. The issue has to do with >>>> writing of the R window. >>>> >>>> My computer runs on Windows 10 Professional 64-bit with all the >>>> latest updates, and has a 4-core 8-thread Intel Xeon processor with >>>> 32 Gb of RAM. >>>> >>>> I have some slight impairment in my hands, so for typing I avoid >>>> using the computer keyboard as much as possible. For most of my >>>> typing, I use the software Dasher, a kind of assistive technology >>>> software. Dasher was created by the Inference Group led by >>>> Professor David MacKay (died in 2016) at Cambridge University in >>>> England. Later, Dasher was further developed by Ada Majorek (a >>>> Google engineer, recently deceased). >>>> >>>> General information on Dasher and about the Dasher Project can be >>>> found on the Inference Group page: >>>> >>>> http://www.inference.org.uk/dasher/ >>>> >>>> An example of Dasher in action can be seen on this 2-minute YouTube >>>> video: >>>> >>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr3s4613DX8 >>>> >>>> An one-hour YouTube video of a 2007 Google Talk by Professor MacKay >>>> himself explaining the Dasher concept can be found here: >>>> >>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpOxbesRNBc >>>> >>>> In the 2-minute video (the first YouTube address above), the >>>> sentence written through Dasher, for actual use, needs to be copied >>>> and then pasted into another software, say a text editor. But >>>> Dasher also has a "Direct Entry" mode, where words typed are >>>> entered directly on the screen of the text editor or other software >>>> -- this is how I use Dasher to write on the R window. >>>> >>>> Using Dasher`s "Direct Entry" mode, for all effects, to write a >>>> word through Dasher works exactly like writing the word through the >>>> normal computer keyboard. Somehow (I do not know about system >>>> programming), in "Direct Entry" mode, the output of Dasher is >>>> understood by the computer as an input of the same nature as a >>>> keyboard input. >>>> >>>> But this is the issue: until R 4.1.3, R accepted normally the >>>> word-typing through Dasher. But R 4.2.0 (and R 4.2.0-patched build >>>> r82348, 12 May 2022) does not accept Dasher anymore. >>>> >>>> So, for now, if I wish to use R during some extended interactive >>>> section (say, for a first look at a complex data set), and if I >>>> wish to use Dasher for this interactive session, then I have to use >>>> R 4.1.3. For using R through programming, I can use the new R >>>> 4.2.0, by writing the program with Dasher in my text editor, and >>>> then pasting that program into R. >>>> >>>> The latest Windows version of Dasher, version 5.0.0 beta, works >>>> perfectly well with text editors (I use EditPad Pro), with >>>> Microsoft-like Office packages (I use SoftMaker Office), for >>>> writing e-mails (I use Mozilla Thunderbird), for writing on a web >>>> page (I use mostly Mozilla Firefox). It worked perfectly well with >>>> R up to version 4.1.3, but it does not work with R 4.2.0 >>>> >>>> The latest Dasher 5.0.0 beta Windows installer and the source code >>>> can be found on this page below (please click on "Windows >>>> installer" and on "source code", just below the head "Dasher 5.0 >>>> beta release"): >>>> >>>> https://github.com/dasher-project/dasher/releases >>>> >>>> To set Dasher 5.0.0 beta to the "Direct Entry" mode, after >>>> installing Dasher one should go to Preferences > Application > >>>> Application Style. >>>> >>>> Currently, after the passing of Ada Majorek, the Dasher Project is >>>> being put forward by a group of people in England, but, it seems, >>>> at a very slow pace. They have announced the existence of a version >>>> 6 beta, but this is only an online instance of Dasher, there is no >>>> Windows installer, as far as I know. Their web page: >>>> >>>> https://dasher.acecentre.net/ >>>> >>>> For me, and possibly for other users, the Dasher version 5.0.0 beta >>>> for Windows that is available works perfectly well, and allows me >>>> to use the computer with a proficiency that would be hardly >>>> possible otherwise. >>>> >>>> Here I request that the R developers take a look at this >>>> word-typing issue that happens with the new R 4.2.0 on Windows. >>>> >>>> As an R user (I work in ecological research), I can only thank the >>>> R team for this really wonderful piece of statistical software that >>>> you make freely available to us all. >>>> >>>> Regards, >>>> >>>> Paulo Barata >>>> >>>> (Rio de Janeiro - Brazil) >>>> >>>> ______________________________________________ >>>> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list >>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel >>> >>> ______________________________________________ >>> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list >>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
Ben Bolker
2022-May-16 17:51 UTC
[Rd] Writing in R // R 4.2.0 on Windows doesn't work with Dasher
You'll probably have to wait a day or so for a new build. The
Windows binaries are only built once a day or so.
https://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/rdevel.html was built on
2022-05-15.
Tomas's fix was only committed an hour ago:
https://github.com/wch/r-source/commit/9b6de510e6346da7ccb582d14a7699500751efc4
If you're really eager you can install Subversion and build from
source <https://developer.r-project.org/SVNtips.html> (or clone the
Github mirror etc.).
cheers
Ben Bolker
On 2022-05-16 1:45 p.m., Paulo Barata wrote:>
> Dear Tomas,
>
> Thank you very much for dealing with this issue.
>
> You said: "I've committed a fix to R-devel, 82368". It
happens that, at
> this very moment (Monday 16 May 18:44 UTC), The R-devel that exists on
> both the Austria and the 0-Cloud CRAN pages is this, with a different
> (smaller) number:
>
> This is a Windows 64 bit binary build of the 2022-05-15 r82362
> development snapshot of R
>
> Anyway, I installed and tried this R-devel r82362, and Dasher does not
> work with it.
>
> I am not able to find R-Devel 82368 on the CRAN site. Maybe I should
> wait a little more. Or maybe you could send me a proper link to that.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Paulo Barata
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
>
> On 16/05/2022 14:08, Tomas Kalibera wrote:
>>
>> On 5/15/22 16:10, Paulo Barata wrote:
>>>
>>> To the R developers,
>>>
>>> I noticed today that R 4.2.0 responds to the "Enter"
character of
>>> Dasher version 5.0.0 beta in "Direct Entry" mode. An
"Enter" in
>>> Dasher causes the R prompt to jump to the next line, as an
"Enter"
>>> should do.
>>>
>>> No other characters (letters, digits, special characters like + =
& ~
>>> | # $) are accepted by R 4.2.0 through Dasher.
>>>
>>> The "Enter" shows that, somehow, the communication
between Dasher and
>>> R 4.2.0 through the Windows system is not completely curtailed.
>>
>> Dear Paulo,
>>
>> thanks for the report and thanks to all for the useful comments in the
>> followup discussion. I've committed a fix to R-devel, 82368, and I
>> would be grateful if you could test whether it fixes the problem for
>> you. I've tested it only on a small example which is using the same
>> method to insert keys to Rgui as Dasher does.
>>
>> The problem is caused by a limitation in GraphApp, a library used by
>> Rgui and included in the R distribution. GraphApp has two modes:
>> Unicode windows (with this limitation) and non-Unicode windows
>> (without it). GraphApp uses Unicode windows when running in a
>> multi-byte locale, and as of R 4.2, this is the case for all systems
>> on recent Windows where the native encoding is UTF-8. This means that
>> most likely R 4.1.3 didn't work with Dasher on systems running in a
>> multi-byte locale and that most likely R 4.2.0 would work with Dasher
>> on old Windows systems (where UTF-8 cannot be used as native encoding).
>>
>> Dasher uses SendInput/KEYEVENTF_UNICODE to inject text into Rgui,
>> which is fine as far as I can tell and should work. It didn't work,
>> because the Unicode windows didn't handle WM_CHAR nor
>> WM_KEYDOWN/WM_KEYUP for VK_PACKET. By design, Unicode windows get
>> input via WM_IME_COMPOSITION and WM_KEYDOWN, so I've added support
for
>> VK_PACKET to WM_KEYDOWN (taking the logic in gdk as an example).
>>
>> I am cc'ing Jose as Tinn-R has a similar problem, though this patch
>> doesn't solve it.
>>
>> Best
>> Tomas
>>
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Paulo Barata
>>>
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> On 13/05/2022 16:44, Paulo Barata wrote:
>>>> To the R developers,
>>>>
>>>> I would like to point out an issue that occurs with the new R
4.2.0
>>>> running on Windows; this is possibly related to the recent wide
>>>> changes made to the Windows port of R. The issue has to do with
>>>> writing of the R window.
>>>>
>>>> My computer runs on Windows 10 Professional 64-bit with all the
>>>> latest updates, and has a 4-core 8-thread Intel Xeon processor
with
>>>> 32 Gb of RAM.
>>>>
>>>> I have some slight impairment in my hands, so for typing I
avoid
>>>> using the computer keyboard as much as possible. For most of my
>>>> typing, I use the software Dasher, a kind of assistive
technology
>>>> software. Dasher was created by the Inference Group led by
Professor
>>>> David MacKay (died in 2016) at Cambridge University in England.
>>>> Later, Dasher was further developed by Ada Majorek (a Google
>>>> engineer, recently deceased).
>>>>
>>>> General information on Dasher and about the Dasher Project can
be
>>>> found on the Inference Group page:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.inference.org.uk/dasher/
>>>>
>>>> An example of Dasher in action can be seen on this 2-minute
YouTube
>>>> video:
>>>>
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr3s4613DX8
>>>>
>>>> An one-hour YouTube video of a 2007 Google Talk by Professor
MacKay
>>>> himself explaining the Dasher concept can be found here:
>>>>
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpOxbesRNBc
>>>>
>>>> In the 2-minute video (the first YouTube address above), the
>>>> sentence written through Dasher, for actual use, needs to be
copied
>>>> and then pasted into another software, say a text editor. But
Dasher
>>>> also has a "Direct Entry" mode, where words typed are
entered
>>>> directly on the screen of the text editor or other software --
this
>>>> is how I use Dasher to write on the R window.
>>>>
>>>> Using Dasher`s "Direct Entry" mode, for all effects,
to write a word
>>>> through Dasher works exactly like writing the word through the
>>>> normal computer keyboard. Somehow (I do not know about system
>>>> programming), in "Direct Entry" mode, the output of
Dasher is
>>>> understood by the computer as an input of the same nature as a
>>>> keyboard input.
>>>>
>>>> But this is the issue: until R 4.1.3, R accepted normally the
>>>> word-typing through Dasher. But R 4.2.0 (and R 4.2.0-patched
build
>>>> r82348, 12 May 2022) does not accept Dasher anymore.
>>>>
>>>> So, for now, if I wish to use R during some extended
interactive
>>>> section (say, for a first look at a complex data set), and if I
wish
>>>> to use Dasher for this interactive session, then I have to use
R
>>>> 4.1.3. For using R through programming, I can use the new R
4.2.0,
>>>> by writing the program with Dasher in my text editor, and then
>>>> pasting that program into R.
>>>>
>>>> The latest Windows version of Dasher, version 5.0.0 beta, works
>>>> perfectly well with text editors (I use EditPad Pro), with
>>>> Microsoft-like Office packages (I use SoftMaker Office), for
writing
>>>> e-mails (I use Mozilla Thunderbird), for writing on a web page
(I
>>>> use mostly Mozilla Firefox). It worked perfectly well with R up
to
>>>> version 4.1.3, but it does not work with R 4.2.0
>>>>
>>>> The latest Dasher 5.0.0 beta Windows installer and the source
code
>>>> can be found on this page below (please click on "Windows
installer"
>>>> and on "source code", just below the head
"Dasher 5.0 beta release"):
>>>>
>>>> https://github.com/dasher-project/dasher/releases
>>>>
>>>> To set Dasher 5.0.0 beta to the "Direct Entry" mode,
after
>>>> installing Dasher one should go to Preferences > Application
>
>>>> Application Style.
>>>>
>>>> Currently, after the passing of Ada Majorek, the Dasher Project
is
>>>> being put forward by a group of people in England, but, it
seems, at
>>>> a very slow pace. They have announced the existence of a
version 6
>>>> beta, but this is only an online instance of Dasher, there is
no
>>>> Windows installer, as far as I know. Their web page:
>>>>
>>>> https://dasher.acecentre.net/
>>>>
>>>> For me, and possibly for other users, the Dasher version 5.0.0
beta
>>>> for Windows that is available works perfectly well, and allows
me to
>>>> use the computer with a proficiency that would be hardly
possible
>>>> otherwise.
>>>>
>>>> Here I request that the R developers take a look at this
word-typing
>>>> issue that happens with the new R 4.2.0 on Windows.
>>>>
>>>> As an R user (I work in ecological research), I can only thank
the R
>>>> team for this really wonderful piece of statistical software
that
>>>> you make freely available to us all.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>>
>>>> Paulo Barata
>>>>
>>>> (Rio de Janeiro - Brazil)
>>>>
>>>> ______________________________________________
>>>> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
>>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>>>
>>> ______________________________________________
>>> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
--
Dr. Benjamin Bolker
Professor, Mathematics & Statistics and Biology, McMaster University
Director, School of Computational Science and Engineering
(Acting) Graduate chair, Mathematics & Statistics