Appendix II-Frequently Asked Questions about S

. (for answers, see /usr/biostatistics/doc/Splus/splus.faq, or http://www.stat.math.ethz.ch:80/S-FAQ).

   * Introduction
   * Absolutely Important
        o Subscribing to/unsubscribing from the S-news mailing list.
        o Asking questions of the mailing list.
        o Guidelines for answering questions on the mailing list.
   * General Topics
        o What is S? What can S be used for?
        o What is the current S version?
        o What is S-PLUS? What extras does it have?
        o What is the current S-PLUS version?
        o What is old S?
        o How do I get S?
        o Should I get S in source form or binary?
        o How much does S/S-PLUS cost?
        o How do I get S-PLUS?
        o Can I get the source code for S-PLUS?
        o Are there other supported versions of S?
        o What software do I need to go along with S?
        o How does one install S? How long does it take?
        o How much disk space is necessary to install S?
        o How much disk space is necessary to install S-PLUS?
        o What machines does S/S-PLUS run on?
        o Will S/S-PLUS run on machine X running OS Y?
        o What is the best machine for S?
        o What operating system does S need?
        o Can S do statistical computations?
        o How do I work with S? Is it hard to learn?
   * Documentation
        o What documentation is available for S, S-PLUS?
             + Primary Books
             + S-PLUS Manuals
             + Online Documentation
             + Other Books
        o What is the statlib server? How can I access it?
        o Are archives of the S-news digests available?
   * Input and Output
        o What kinds of data can S read?
        o How do I read data into S/S-PLUS from an ASCII file?
        o How can I write S data to an ASCII file?
        o Can S/S-PLUS objects be transferred from one machine to another?
        o When is dump() and restore()/source() preferable to
          data.dump()/data.restore()?
        o Why does round() sometimes not print rounded values?
   * Functions in S
        o Are there any guidelines to writing functions in S?
        o Where can I get contributed functions?
   * Dynamic Loading in S
        o What is dynamic loading? When is it available?
        o What is static loading and how does it differ from dynamic loading?
        o Can I call S/S-PLUS routines from within C?
   * Graphics/Fonts
        o What graphics devices does S/S-PLUS support?
        o How do I find what graphics devices my S/S-PLUS supports?
        o Does S/S-PLUS have a menu-based interface?
        o Does S have dynamic graphics? Does S-PLUS?
        o How can I generate figures in S/S-PLUS for inclusion elsewhere?
        o How can I plot complicated text using mixed fonts, etc?
   * Memory Management and Looping
        o What can I do when S runs slowly or out of memory while looping?
             + Tutorial Description -- memory problems in S
             + Permutation Distributions
             + Bootstrapping
   * Data Manipulation
        o How do I create objects with similar names in a loop?
   * Miscellany
        o What causes the message: Looking for..."function", ignored one...?
        o How do I get information on running S within Emacs?
   * Concept Index