On Jun 27, 2013, at 2:14 PM, Spencer Graves
<spencer.gra...@structuremonitoring.com> wrote:
> Hello:
>
>
> Is there a fully transportable way to write an Excel workbook?
>
>
> The "writeFindFn2xls" function in the "sos" package attempts to write search
> results to an Excel workbook consisting of (1) a summary of the packages
> identified in the search, (2) the individual help pages found, and (3) the
> search that produced 1 and 2. Unfortunately, for some time now, it only works
> with 32-bit R; the 64-bit R writes this information to three separate csv
> files.
>
>
> The current code first tries WriteXLS{WriteXLS}. Unfortunately, this fails on
> my computer, because it can't find the Perl module "Text::CSV_XS". I don't
> see an easy fix to this.
>
>
> If WriteXLS fails, the code then tries odbcConnectExcel{ODBC}. From this, I
> get, "odbcConnectExcel is only usable with 32-bit Windows". That's OK, but it
> means that I need to run all my searches on 32-bit R, and I usually use
> 64-bit R.
>
>
> I tried write.xls{dataframes2xls}. This put quotes around everything, which I
> found unacceptable.
>
>
> findFn('write.xls') identified a function by that name in the "marray"
> package. Unfortunately, install.packages("marray") produced, "Warning
> message: package ‘marray’ is not available (for R version 3.0.1)" "???xls"
> failed to produce anything else that looked to me like it would write a
> complete workbook.
>
>
> Suggestions?
> Thanks,
> Spencer Graves
The problem that you will likely run into Spencer, is that most cross-OS
solutions for R will likely require Perl (as in the case of my WriteXLS
package), Python or Java as in the case of some of the others, like XLConnect.
Java, while perhaps the easiest of the cross-OS solutions, may be problematic
from a security standpoint, if the user's computer has had Java removed or
disabled (not just the browser plug-in, but the JRE itself).
In the case of WriteXLS, the solution to the missing Perl module(s) is defined
in the INSTALL file that is included in the package:
http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/WriteXLS/INSTALL
As noted there and as you find above, the typical missing module is
Text::CSV_XS (because it contains C code requiring compilation), with the
exception of (as of the last time I checked) the ActiveState Perl distribution.
The ActiveState distribution includes pre-compiled binaries of the Perl modules
for the target OS's, which obviates the need for the user to have C related
development tools installed locally.
Regards,
Marc Schwartz
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