NAME
Statistics::R - Perl interface to control the R statistical program
DESCRIPTION
This module controls the R interpreter (R project for statistical
computing: ). Multiple architectures and OS
are supported and a single instance of R can be accessed by several Perl
processes.
SYNOPSIS
use Statistics::R;
# Create a communication bridge with R and start R
my $R = Statistics::R->new();
# Run simple R commands
$R->run(q`postscript("file.ps" , horizontal=FALSE , width=500 , height=500 , pointsize=1)`);
$R->run(q`plot(c(1, 5, 10), type = "l")`);
$R->run(q`dev.off()`);
# Pass and retrieve data
my $input_value = 1;
$R->set('x', $input_value);
$R->run(q`y <- x^2`);
my $output_value = $R->get('y');
print "y = $output_value\n";
$R->stop();
METHODS
new()
Create a Statistics::R bridge object between Perl and R and start()
R. Available options are:
shared
Start a shared bridge. See start().
log_dir
A directory where temporary files necessary for the bridge
between R and Perl will be stored.
R and Perl need to have read and write access to the directory!
*By default this will be a folder called Statistics-R and placed
in a temporary directory of the system*
r_bin
The path to the R binary. See *INSTALLATION*.
set()
Set the value of an R variable, e.g.
$R->set( 'x', "apple" );
or
$R->set( 'y', [1, 2, 3] );
get( $)
Get the value of an R variable, e.g.
my $x = $R->get( 'x' ); # $y is an scalar
or
my $y = $R->get( 'y' ); # $x is an arrayref
start()
Start R and set the communication bridge between Perl and R. Pass
the option shared => 1 to use an already running bridge.
stop()
Stop R and stop the bridge.
restart()
stop() and start() R.
bin()
Return the path to the R binary (executable).
send($CMD)
Send some command to be executed inside R. Note that *$CMD* will be
loaded by R with *source()*. Prefer the run() command.
receive($TIMEOUT)
Get the output of R for the last group of commands sent to R by
*send()*. Prefer the run() command.
lock()
Lock the bridge for your PID.
unlock()
Unlock the bridge if your PID have locked it.
is_locked()
Return *TRUE* if the bridge is locked for your PID.
In other words, returns *TRUE* if other process has *lock()ed* the
bridge.
is_started()
Return *TRUE* if the R interpreter is started, or still started.
clean_up()
Clean up the environment, removing all the objects.
INSTALLATION
To install this package you need to install R on your system first,
since *Statistics::R* need to find R path to work. If R is in your PATH
environment variable, then it should be available from a terminal and be
detected automatically by *Statistics::R*. This means that you do not
have to do anything on Linux systems to get *Statistics::R* working. On
Windows systems, in addition to the folders described in PATH, the usual
suspects will be checked for the presence of the R binary, e.g.
C:\Program Files\R. Your last recourse if *Statistics::R* does not find
R is to specify its full path when calling new():
my $R = Statistics::R->new( r_bin => $fullpath );
Download page of R:
Or go to the R web site:
You also need to have the following CPAN Perl modules installed:
Text::Balanced
Regexp::Common
File::Which
EXECUTION FOR MULTIPLE PROCESSES
The main purpose of *Statistics::R* is to start a single R interpreter
that listens to multiple Perl processes.
Note that to do that R and Perl need to be running with the same
user/group level.
To start the *Statistics::R* bridge, you can use the script
*statistics-r.pl*:
$> statistics-r.pl start
From your script you need to use the *start()* option in shared mode:
use Statistics::R;
my $R = Statistics::R->new();
$R->start( shared => 1 );
$R->run('x = 123');
exit;
Note that in the example above the method *stop()* wasn't called, since
it will close the bridge.
SEE ALSO
* Statistics::R::Bridge
* The R-project web site:
* Statistics:: modules for Perl:
AUTHOR
Graciliano M. P.
MAINTAINERS
Brian Cassidy
Florent Angly
COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
BUGS
All complex software has bugs lurking in it, and this program is no
exception. If you find a bug, please report it on the CPAN Tracker of
Statistics::R:
Bug reports, suggestions and patches are welcome. The Statistics::R code
is developed on Github () and is
under Git revision control. To get the latest revision, run:
git clone git@github.com:bricas/statistics-r.git