Rattle: Installation on MS/Windows

Overview

Install R
Startup R and then

Details

1. Install R

Download and run the self installing executable to install R (verison 2.14.1 is 45MB) from CRAN, the Comprehensive R Archive Network, as R-2.14.1-win.exe [120118]. Choosing all the defaults on the install works just fine.

Both a 32 bit and a 64 bit version will be installed - they coexist.

2. Install Rattle

Open the R Desktop icon (32 bit or 64 bit) and enter the following command at the R prompt. R will ask for a CRAN mirror. Choose a nearby location.
```
> install.packages("rattle")
```

Enter the following two commands at the R prompt. This loads the Rattle package into the library and then starts up Rattle.
```
> library(rattle)
> rattle()
```
If the RGtk2 package has yet to be installed, there will be an error popup indicating that libatk-1.0-0.dll is missing from your computer. Click on the OK and then you will be asked if you would like to install GTK+. Click OK to do so. This then downloads and installs the appropriate GTK+ libraries for your computer. After this has finished, do exit from R and restart it so that it can find the newly installed libraries.

When running Rattle a number of other packages will be downloaded and installed as needed, with Rattle asking for the user's permission before doing so.

The installation has been tested [110827] to work on Microsoft Windows, 32bit and 64bit, XP, Vista and 7 with R 2.14.1, Rattle 2.6.16 and RGtk2 2.20.17.

3. Optional Configuration and Installations

You may like to install RStudio (version 0.94.102 is 15.8MB), an integrated development environment for interacting with R, from www.rstudio.org as RStudio-0.94.102.exe [110827].

Increasing in sophistication is Emacs Speaks S (version 23.3m1 is 47MB), an integrated development environment for R, availalbe from vgoulet.act.ulaval.ca as emacs-23.3-modified-1.exe [110328].

Rattle will install other packages as needed but we can force the install of all other packages Rattle uses in one go if we so wish, using:
```
> install.packages("rattle", dep=c("Suggests"))
```

To use the Microsoft Windows theme engine, and thus have Rattle look like all other Windows applications (in terms of colour and style), create a file with the name gtkrc to contain the following line. Make sure the file name does not have any filename extension (i.e., no .txt or anything else with a dot). The file needs to be located in the GTK+ installation folder. This might be, for example, C:/Users/username/R/win-library/2.14/RGtk2/gtk/i386/etc/gtk-2.0/.
```
gtk-theme-name = "MS-Windows"
```

For trouble shooting see Rattle Install Trouble Shooting.