R: Ancillary Function for Preparing Emails and Postings

create.post {utils} | R Documentation

## Ancillary Function for Preparing Emails and Postings

### Description

An ancillary function used by `bug.report` and `help.request` to prepare emails for submission to package maintainers or to R mailing lists.

### Usage

    create.post(instructions = character(), description = "post",
                subject = "",
                method = getOption("mailer"),
                address = "the relevant mailing list",
                ccaddress = getOption("ccaddress", ""),
                filename = "R.post", info = character())

### Arguments

`instructions` | Character vector of instructions to put at the top of the template email.
`description` | Character string: a description to be incorporated into messages.
`subject` | Subject of the email. Optional except for the `"mailx"` method.
`method` | Submission method, one of `"none"`, `"mailto"`, `"gnudoit"`, `"ess"` or (Unix only) `"mailx"`. See ‘Details’.
`address` | Recipient's email address, where applicable: for package bug reports sent by email this defaults to the address of the package maintainer (the first if more than one is listed).
`ccaddress` | Optional email address for copies with the `"mailx"` and `"mailto"` methods. Use `ccaddress = ""` for no copy.
`filename` | Filename to use for setting up the email (or storing it when method is `"none"` or sending mail fails).
`info` | character vector of information to include in the template email below the ‘please do not edit the information below’ line.

### Details

What this does depends on the `method`. The function first creates a template email body.

`none`

  A file editor (see `file.edit`) is opened with instructions and the template email. When this returns, the completed email is in file `file` ready to be read/pasted into an email program.

`mailto`

  This opens the default email program with a template email (including address, Cc: address and subject) for you to edit and send.

  This works where default mailers are set up (usual on OS X and Windows, and where `xdg-open` is available and configured on other Unix-alikes: if that fails it tries the browser set by R_BROWSER).

  This is the ‘factory-fresh’ default method.

`mailx`

  (Unix-alikes only.) A file editor (see `file.edit`) is opened with instructions and the template email. When this returns, it is mailed using a Unix command line mail utility such as `mailx`, to the address (and optionally, the Cc: address) given.

`gnudoit`

  An (X)emacs mail buffer is opened for the email to be edited and sent: this requires the `gnudoit` program to be available. Currently `subject` is ignored.

`ess`

  The body of the template email is sent to `stdout`.

### Value

Invisible `NULL`.

### See Also

`bug.report`, `help.request`.

[Package utils version 3.1.2 Index]