Output to raw R object

[cameronbracken]

This was requested by a user a while back, It would likely require a some restructuring of the C code. Usage would be something like ggplot2:

p <- tikz(raw=TRUE)
plot(...)
dev.off()

Or

tikz(raw=TRUE,object='p')
plot(...)
dev.off()

then the user could

print(p)

to print to the screen or

print(p,file='foo.tex')

to print to a file.

The second method would probably be more feasible.

[Sharpie]

I have thought about this one recently---If we stored the plot as, say grid graphics objects, then we would be able to do all sorts of optimizations and neat tricks.

For example:

• There would be no need for massive abuse of regular expressions like I had to do with the MetaPost device as the color names could be straightened out before the output gets written.
• Closing issue 12 would be easy. If a "page" object gets created, but never contains anything, it is simply thrown out.

This would require a lot of careful thinking and planning though.

[cameronbracken]

I am thinking of taking a rough cut at this by simply adding something to printOutput that would direct the printed lines (as a character vector) to the object specified by the user as an argument. This could at least be a side feature for now like console output and could get revamped in the future to help with optimizations.

[cameronbracken]

First cut: 0a59d3

[Sharpie]

I'm going to bump this to a later as I have a few ideas for storing device output in order to allow for better optimization and formatting of output. Making the device output available as an R object would fit in nicely with this strategy.

Plus, there has been a lot of re-organization of the C code since version 0.6.2. I think it would be best to draw a line and cut a release so that the new changes get tested in the real world before adding even more features.