Hi, So is your actual question about how to prompt for user input, rather than anything about the SQL extraction or graphing?
I think I would write the R code as a function that takes the four values as arguments. That's not the same as prompting the user, but more flexible and more R-ish. You could also try readline() for getting input. If you search the mailing list archives, that question comes up fairly regularly. I've taken the liberty of copying this to the R-help list in case someone else has more suggestions. You need to choose "reply all" and not just "reply" for that to happen. Sarah On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 6:19 PM, <geo...@leadbetter.cc> wrote: > Hi Sarah, > > Thanks for your response. I understand now my question is phrased very > poorly. I think this is what I should have said. > > 1) My problem - I have a database in SQL and access to R. I want to write to > write a script to generate a graph using information from the SQL database. > What I really want is the user of the script to be prompted for 4 pieces of > information: a start date, a finish date, and 2 product codes related to the > datbase. I want to take these 4 inputs, which define the data I need from > the database and use this data to generate the graph. > > 2) what i currently and doing is the following. I have opened an R text file > and used the commandArgs function to generate my query and produce my graph. > This has to be run through a terminal window. I'm using a Mac, so I type > into the terminal window, Rscript filename.R --from "2011-05-01" --to > "2011-06-01" etc. So the user isn't prompted for the arguments you have to > know them. I've made it so that if you just type Rscript filename.R into the > terminal and execute then it returns a help message which shows you what to > do. > > These args are then manipulated in this text file so that they can be put > into an SQLquery embedded in the text file, the data I want is then > extracted and from this the graphs are generated. > > I'm not sure my use of the term R text file is correct. What I refer to as > an R text file is what you get when you click the blank page icon at the > presented at the top of the screen on an R console window. > > The way I have gone about solving my problem seems unnecessarily long winded > to me and I know there are significantly easier ways of going about similar > tasks in Matlab (which I no longer have access to). I was hoping you could > point me in the right direction. > > Many thanks, > George Leadbetter > > Quoting Sarah Goslee <sarah.gos...@gmail.com>: > >> Hi George, >> >> On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 9:33 AM, geo...@leadbetter.cc >> <geo...@leadbetter.cc> wrote: >>> >>> I have written a script in an R text file that i can run through a >>> terminal >>> window. My script though contains lots of code to interpret my input >>> arguments, which are then put into an SQL query to get the data I want to >>> plot some graphs. The script works, but there must be an easier way to do >>> what I want using maybe Rscript or something else but I can't seem to >>> find >>> it! Any help would be much appreciated. >> >> There's almost certainly an easier way, or several, but we don't know >> what you're doing, or what you want. >> >> You've written a script. It has code in it. It works. >> >> And? >> >> Obviously somehow you're running it. We don't know how. >> >> Something is more complicated than you'd like. We don't know what. >> >> You've looked for more ideas. We don't know what about. >> >> Sarah >> >>> Thanks, >>> George >>> >> >> -- >> Sarah Goslee >> http://www.functionaldiversity.org >> > > > > ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.