[R] Fortune candidate! Re: new to R Project

[Petr PIKAL]

Hi

r-help-bounces at r-project.org napsal dne 23.02.2010 05:50:25:

>        I have a concern with the sentiment expressed:  When one is new 
> to a language, it is often not easy to know where to start in the 
> available documentation.  It's hard to RTFM when one does not know which 

> FM2R.
> 
> 
>        I currently subscribe to email help for three other open source 
> collaborative projects.  This started with a problem I have not been 
> able to solve.  I reviewed options I could find, including posting a 
> question to R-help.  After careful study, I selected one alternative and 

> tried it.  When I hit a roadblock with that, I tried another.  When that 

> failed, I tried their help mailing lists.  So far, I have installed 
> three different software packages and gotten them to do simple things. 
> My current status reflects the famous line from Thomas Edison:  I know 
> several things that don't work.  I've been forced to postpone further 
> work on that project indefinitely.
> 
> 
>        Was the question obvious?  The post included, "my goal is using R 

> i have to connect to the database and i have to generate reports."  We 
> can quibble with the lack of clarity in the prose;  for many people in 
> Germany (the poster had a German email address), English is a second 
> language.  (Gott sei dank dass ich nicht so oft meine Fragen auf Deutsch 

> stellen muss.)
> 
> 
>        It looks to me like the questioner wants to access a standard 
> database system like MySQL, PostgreSQL or Oracle.  As far as I know, 
> that's not trivial.  Moreover, it's not easy even to find relevant 
> documentation.  S-Plus and more recently R have been part of my life not 


I agree that it is not always straightforward and simple to find relevant 
piece of information. R grew to powerful complex piece of software used in 
quite remote application areas. 

Paper dragons use similar approaches as airplanes to fly but airplanes 
would need thorough study to learn how to operate them. I am not sure if 
the OP is willing to do it.
 
>From other questions of OP it seems to me that it is a variation to

fortune("brain")

Regards
Petr

> quite every day for the past seventeen years.  For most of that period, 
> I avoided databases, because I believed the learning curve would be 
> steep, and it seemed like one more thing that could distract me from the 

> most important things I had to do.  Not quite a year ago, I had to work 
> with a database system.  I learned to use RBloomberg, RODBC, etc., 
> enough to do what seemed to be required.  However, at least for me, it 
> was not easy to decide where to start.
> 
> 
>        Best Wishes,
>        Spencer Graves
> 
> 
> On 2/22/2010 5:25 AM, Detlef Steuer wrote:
> > One vote goes to Dave's answer!
> >
> > You made (saved) my day
> > detlef
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:07:23 +0000
> > "Dr. David Kirkby"<david.kirkby at onetel.net>  wrote:
> >
> > 
> >> chinna wrote:
> >> 
> >>> hi everyone,
> >>> i am new to R project can anyone please help me by providing 
documents....
> >>>
> >>> my goal is using R i have to connect to the database and i have to 
generate
> >>> reports.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks in advance
> >>> chinna.
> >>> 
> >> R is a complex program. If you can't work out how to find the 
documentation, I
> >> doubt you will be able to use R.
> >>
> >> Dave
> >>
> >> ______________________________________________
> >> R-help at r-project.org  mailing list
> >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> >> PLEASE do read the posting 
guidehttp://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> >> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
> >> 
> > ______________________________________________
> > R-help at r-project.org  mailing list
> > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> > PLEASE do read the posting 
guidehttp://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
> >
> > 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Spencer Graves, PE, PhD
> President and Chief Operating Officer
> Structure Inspection and Monitoring, Inc.
> 751 Emerson Ct.
> San José, CA 95126
> ph:  408-655-4567
> 
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at 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.