Bug #3735
closedR actor produces 'null' message when R not found on PATH
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Description
Edward Lee reports thatthe R actor produces a 'null' error message when one of the demo workflows that requires R is run on a system lacking R.
The R actor (and other external execution actors like Matlab) should check to see if the R executable is available and the R system functioning before it tries to execute. Maybe this can be done on init() so that it happens before a workflow is run.
When R is not found, a sensible error message should be displayed, one that preferably points the user to an easy solution of the problem.
An alternative (and probably better) approach is to have the R actor formally specify a dependency on the R system executable for the local platform, so that when the R actor is installed, the module installer checks that its dependencies are all satisfied. This would be possible under the new modularization system that includes the ability to formally specify dependency graphs in module metadata.