Rgui (R for Windows)

Henrik Bengtsson, September 24, 2003.

This page contains specific tips and tricks for R for Windows and especially Rgui.

Turn buffered output on and off

In the menu "Misc" unselect "Buffered output" (Ctrl+W) to get instantaneous output of intermediate message shown by different functions. This is useful if you have functions that takes minutes (or hours) to run and that print messages as it goes. If "Buffered output" is on, you will not see these message until the function returns.

Unfortunately this option is not saved when you restart R, but if you just remember to do Ctrl+W when you have started R it is easy.

Change to "Single windows"

By default all plot windows (The "Figure 2" etc windows) opened in Rgui are placed within the Rgui frame. Some people prefer this others don't. An option is to let the main window and all plot windows live separately. See screenshots to the right. This is done by selecting "GUI preferences..." in the "Edit" menu. Then select "SDI" (instead of "MDI") next to "Single or multiple windows". The click "Save" and accept the suggested pathname ("Rconsole") by clicking "Save" in the opened file dialog. The click "Cancel" (yes, it is indeed ok). Restart R to get effectuate the settings.

Rgui MDI (zoom) Rgui SDI (zoom)