A Graphical User Interface for R in a Rich Client Platform for Ecological Modeling

• Main Authors: Wofram Beyschlag, Marcel Austenfeld
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Foundation for Open Access Statistics 2012-06-01
• Series: Journal of Statistical Software
• Subjects: rich client platform; ecological modeling; Rserve; R; Java
• Online Access: http://www.jstatsoft.org/v49/i04/paper

For many ecological analyses powerful statistical tools are required for a profound analysis of spatial and time based data sets. In order to avoid many common errors of analysis and data acquisition a graphical user interface can help to focus on the task of the analysis and minimize the time to fulfill certain tasks in a programming language like R. In this paper we present a graphical user interface for R embedded in the ecological modeling software Bio7 which is based on an Eclipse rich client platform. We demonstrate that within the Bio7 platform R can not only be effectively combined with Java but also with the powerful components of Eclipse. Additionally we present some custom Bio7 components which interact with R and make use of some useful advanced concepts and libraries of this connection. Our overview on the Bio7 R interface also emphasizes a broad applicability for disciplines beyond ecological modeling.