A brief note on how to install rattle/RGtk2 on macOS

Install-Rattle-on-macOS.md

Installing Rattle on MacOS 10.11 (or above)

This article was moved to https://zhiyzuo.github.io/installation-rattle/ !

I have OS 10.11.4 running on a 2014 iMac, and R 3.4.1. This process breaks for me at step 9 with "Error: gtk+ 2.24.31 did not build"
Has something changed in the past few weeks, or am I doing something wrong?
UPDATE: It looks like I needed to reinstall Xquartz. I did that, the installation went fine (and took a lot longer), and everything seems to work now. Thanks for posting these instructions!

Thanks a million - it worked!

I have macOS Sierra 10.12.6, and R version R version 3.4.2. At the step14. It shows some error as below:

trying URL 'https://togaware.com/access/rattle_5.0.14.tar.gz'
Content type 'application/x-tar' length 2993321 bytes (2.9 MB)

downloaded 2.9 MB

ERROR: dependency 'RGtk2' is not available for package 'rattle'

• removing '/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/3.4/Resources/library/rattle'
  Warning message:
  In install.packages("https://togaware.com/access/rattle_5.0.14.tar.gz", :
  installation of package '/var/folders/hv/4yplv0596sbblcds_jj2_6k80000gn/T//RtmpRgZAKq/downloaded_packages/rattle_5.0.14.tar.gz' had non-zero exit status

Is it something wrong with my steps?

Many thanks for this. Worked for me with Sierra 10.12.6 and R version 3.4.2. Enabled me to install RQDA.

@fallsit, I have not seen an error like this. Any updates now?

I am getting this when doing "R CMD INSTALL RGtk2_2.20.33.tar.gz"

configure: error: GTK version 2.8.0 required

I am on MacOS Sierra 10.12.6, R version is 3.4.2
When I did "brew install --build-from-source --verbose gtk+" it installed GTK 2.24.31_1

@foohm71. Can you do a brew doctor to see if any related message comes up?

Not sure if these could cause issues:

Warning: Unbrewed dylibs were found in /usr/local/lib.
If you didn't put them there on purpose they could cause problems when
building Homebrew formulae, and may need to be deleted.

Unexpected dylibs:
/usr/local/lib/libtcl8.6.dylib
/usr/local/lib/libtk8.6.dylib

Warning: Unbrewed .pc files were found in /usr/local/lib/pkgconfig.
If you didn't put them there on purpose they could cause problems when
building Homebrew formulae, and may need to be deleted.

Unexpected .pc files:
/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/tcl.pc
/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/tk.pc

Warning: Unbrewed static libraries were found in /usr/local/lib.
If you didn't put them there on purpose they could cause problems when
building Homebrew formulae, and may need to be deleted.

Unexpected static libraries:
/usr/local/lib/libtclstub8.6.a
/usr/local/lib/libtkstub8.6.a

I am on MacOS Sierra 10.12.6 and have R version 3.4.2.
At the step11 it shows an error as below:

R session is headless; GTK+ not initialized.
Error: package or namespace load failed for ‘RGtk2’:
.onLoad failed in loadNamespace() for 'RGtk2', details:
call: .RGtkCall("S_gtk_builder_get_type", PACKAGE = "RGtk2")
error: object has no G type

@foohm71 Can you find gtk related folder in /usr/local/Cellar ?

@uiang what did you run to get this error?

@foohm71, @uiang. See the my revision at step 10 to see if that helps.

One important point might be the removal of gtk+ with brew uninstall. Because if you already have gtk+ on your system, brew will ignore your attempt. If that's the case use;

brew uninstall gtk+ --ignore-dependencies

p.s. Amazing tutorial btw.

That's fantastic tutorial, I spent hours to install rattle but without finding this guide I wouldn't succeed! Thanks a lot!!! OS X El Captain (10.11.6) and R version 3.4.2 was my case, though. To uninstall gtk+ I haven't used flag --ignore-dependences.

Thanks a million - it worked!!!! 👍

Hello, great tutorial, thanks for sharing. I am having an issue at step 7 and I am unable to install cairo. The output of brew install --with-x11 cairo is below. I am running MacOs High Sierra 10.13.1 and gcc 7.2. What could be the error?

`~ brew install --with-x11 cairo
==> Downloading https://cairographics.org/releases/cairo-1.14.10.tar.xz
Already downloaded: /Users/sanromd/Library/Caches/Homebrew/cairo-1.14.10.tar.xz
==> ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/Cellar/cairo/1.14.10 --enable-gobject=yes --enable-svg=yes --enable-tee=yes --enable-quartz-image --enable-xcb=yes --enable-xlib=yes --enable-xlib-xrender=yes
Last 15 lines from /Users/username/Library/Logs/Homebrew/cairo/01.configure:
configure: WARNING: CoreGraphics/CoreGraphics.h: present but cannot be compiled
configure: WARNING: CoreGraphics/CoreGraphics.h: check for missing prerequisite headers?
configure: WARNING: CoreGraphics/CoreGraphics.h: see the Autoconf documentation
configure: WARNING: CoreGraphics/CoreGraphics.h: section "Present But Cannot Be Compiled"
configure: WARNING: CoreGraphics/CoreGraphics.h: proceeding with the compiler's result
configure: WARNING: ## ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ##
configure: WARNING: ## Report this to http://bugs.freedesktop.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=cairo ##
configure: WARNING: ## ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ##
checking for CoreGraphics/CoreGraphics.h... no
checking whether cairo's Quartz surface backend feature could be enabled... no (requires CoreGraphics framework)
checking for cairo's Quartz font backend feature...
checking whether cairo's Quartz font backend feature could be enabled... no (requires CoreGraphics framework)
checking for cairo's Quartz Image surface backend feature...
checking whether cairo's Quartz Image surface backend feature could be enabled... no (requires CoreGraphics framework)

configure: error: Quartz Image surface backend feature could not be enabled`

Hello! It shows the error below when I did this ~/Downloads$ R CMD INSTALL RGtk2_2.20.33.tar.gz:
Rgtk.c:7:10: fatal error: 'gdk/gdkx.h' file not found
#include <gdk/gdkx.h>
^
1 error generated.
make: *** [Rgtk.o] Error 1
ERROR: compilation failed for package ‘RGtk2’

• removing ‘/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/3.4/Resources/library/RGtk2’

Any idea on how to solve this problem? Thanks in advance!! ps: very helpful tutorial! Thanks a lot!

@jingyuzheng, it seems like you did not install gtk+ successfully

Thank you so much for this tutorial.

Do you know why I'd be getting this error, when I attempt your Step 11? Thank you again.

Downloads $ R CMD INSTALL RGtk2_2.20.33.tar.gz
Warning in strptime(xx, f <- "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%OS", tz = tz) :
  unknown timezone 'zone/tz/2017c.1.0/zoneinfo/Australia/Melbourne'
* installing to library ‘/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/3.4/Resources/library’
* installing *source* package ‘RGtk2’ ...
** package ‘RGtk2’ successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
checking for pkg-config... /usr/local/bin/pkg-config
checking pkg-config is at least version 0.9.0... yes
checking for INTROSPECTION... no
checking for GTK... no
configure: error: GTK version 2.8.0 required
ERROR: configuration failed for package ‘RGtk2’
* removing ‘/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/3.4/Resources/library/RGtk2’
pc053301:Downloads $ 

Thank you, I used your tips as well as
http://marcoghislanzoni.com/blog/2014/08/29/solved-installing-rattle-r-3-1-mac-os-x-10-9/
and it runs now!
Thanks again

Great help thx @zhiyzuo
Also @jingyuzheng re:
Rgtk.c:7:10: fatal error: 'gdk/gdkx.h' file not found
#include <gdk/gdkx.h>
^
1 error generated.
make: *** [Rgtk.o] Error 1
ERROR: compilation failed for package ‘RGtk2’
removing ‘/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/3.4/Resources/library/RGtk2’

brew uninstall gtk+ --ignore-dependencies
and then install again fixed mine

Thanks for the tutorial, this works for me.

Thank you so, so much for this tutorial. It made all the difference in being able to move forward on this issue. I am almost there. I was able to get all the way through the end and Rattle did open from XQuartz.

However, I tried to then open Rattle from R Studio and I'm getting stuck on a similar error as @uiang. I am wondering if anyone figured out how to get around it. I am running the following:

• Mac OS 10.13.2 (High Sierra)
• R 3.4.3 GUI 1.70 El Capitan build (7463)
• XQuartz 2.7.11 (xorg-server 1.18.4)
• RStudio Version 1.1.414

So when I use the XQuartz Terminal, I type library(rattle) and then rattle(), and Rattle opens.

> library(rattle)
Rattle: A free graphical interface for data mining with R.
Version 5.0.14 Copyright (c) 2006-2017 Togaware Pty Ltd.
Type 'rattle()' to shake, rattle, and roll your data.
> rattle ()

(Rattle opens)

But when I use the R Terminal, I try the same thing and this is what I get

> library(rattle)
R session is headless; GTK+ not initialized.
Rattle: A free graphical interface for data mining with R.
Version 5.0.14 Copyright (c) 2006-2017 Togaware Pty Ltd.
Type 'rattle()' to shake, rattle, and roll your data.
> rattle()
Error in rattle() : Can't load RGtk2.
  A windowing system can't be accessed?
  Maybe you are using a remote terminal (ssh) or RStudio browser connection.
  Consider using remote desktop, ssh -X, or X2Go depending on your platform.
  Running rattle() locally on a desktop is the default.
(R:66236): Gtk-WARNING **: gtk_disable_setlocale() must be called before gtk_init()

And when I use R Studio, I try the same thing and this is what I get:

> library(rattle)
R session is headless; GTK+ not initialized.
Rattle: A free graphical interface for data mining with R.
Version 5.0.14 Copyright (c) 2006-2017 Togaware Pty Ltd.
Type 'rattle()' to shake, rattle, and roll your data.
> rattle()
(R:66390): Gtk-WARNING **: gtk_disable_setlocale() must be called before gtk_init()
Error in rattle() : Can't load RGtk2.
  A windowing system can't be accessed?
  Maybe you are using a remote terminal (ssh) or RStudio browser connection.
  Consider using remote desktop, ssh -X, or X2Go depending on your platform.
  Running rattle() locally on a desktop is the default.

I tried reinstalling RGtk2 in the Terminal and noticed I am getting this at the end of the install:

...
** R
** demo
** inst
** preparing package for lazy loading
** help
*** installing help indices
** building package indices
** testing if installed package can be loaded
R session is headless; GTK+ not initialized.
* DONE (RGtk2)

Thanks in advance for any advice.

@mindexplore.
Can you try first open XQuartz then run rattle in RStudio?

@zhiyzuo I'll try it! I appreciate your reply.

OK, just tried it by closing everything and then, did the following in this order:
a) opened XQuartz
b) opened RStudio
c) in RStudio, I ran library(rattle)
d) in RStudio, I ran ran rattle()

Unfortunately, I got the same output:

> library(rattle)
R session is headless; GTK+ not initialized.
Rattle: A free graphical interface for data mining with R.
Version 5.0.14 Copyright (c) 2006-2017 Togaware Pty Ltd.
Type 'rattle()' to shake, rattle, and roll your data.
> rattle()

(R:67092): Gtk-WARNING **: gtk_disable_setlocale() must be called before gtk_init()
Error in rattle() : Can't load RGtk2.
  A windowing system can't be accessed?
  Maybe you are using a remote terminal (ssh) or RStudio browser connection.
  Consider using remote desktop, ssh -X, or X2Go depending on your platform.
  Running rattle() locally on a desktop is the default.

@mindexplore How about loading the package RGtk2 in XQuartz and then tried to open rattle in RStudio?

I remembered that the way I tested was similar to make rattle run in RStudio but did not remember clearly. Basically I tried to get GTK work since RStudio somehow was unable to do this.

I met a problem similar to mindexplore. In the step 15, when I type "library (cattle)" It showed
" R session is headless; GTK+ not initialized.
Rattle: A free graphical interface for data mining with R.
Version 5.0.14 Copyright (c) 2006-2017 Togaware Pty Ltd.
Type 'rattle()' to shake, rattle, and roll your data."
then, I type "rattle()", it showed
"Error in rattle() : Can't load RGtk2.
A windowing system can't be accessed?
Maybe you are using a remote terminal (ssh) or RStudio browser connection.
Consider using remote desktop, ssh -X, or X2Go depending on your platform.
Running rattle() locally on a desktop is the default.

(R:88432): Gtk-WARNING **: gtk_disable_setlocale() must be called before gtk_init()"

I don't know how to solve this problem.

@uiang Did you get a solution to your problem?

Seems like I have run into a similar problem.

I'm using Mac OS High Sierra 10.13.2 and have R 3.4.1.

I run into the following issue, after trying to install RGtk2 using the following command

$ R CMD INSTALL ~/Downloads/RGtk2_2.20.34.tar.gz
........

installing to /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/3.4/Resources/library/RGtk2/libs
** R
** demo
** inst
** preparing package for lazy loading
** help
*** installing help indices
** building package indices
** testing if installed package can be loaded

Error: package or namespace load failed for ‘RGtk2’:
.onLoad failed in loadNamespace() for 'RGtk2', details:
call: .RGtkCall("S_gtk_builder_get_type", PACKAGE = "RGtk2")
error: object has no G type
Error: loading failed
Execution halted
ERROR: loading failed

removing ‘/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/3.4/Resources/library/RGtk2’

---

Any pointers on this would be helpful.

@zhiyzuo That seems to have done the trick! Thank you so much.

Thanks for your tutorial. I really appreciate it. I am having the same problem when I try to load RGtk2 from the ~/Downloads folder. Some things I have tried:I checked and I do have gtk+ in my local/cellar folder. I also checked my .bash_profile and it looks like the path is in there. I also tried to load the source file from Xquartz with no luck. I'm not really sure what to do. Here's my error just in case:

* installing to library ‘/Users/mikes/Library/R/3.4/library’
* installing *source* package ‘RGtk2’ ...
** package ‘RGtk2’ successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
checking for pkg-config... /usr/local/bin/pkg-config
checking pkg-config is at least version 0.9.0... yes
checking for INTROSPECTION... no
checking for GTK... no
configure: error: GTK version 2.8.0 required
ERROR: configuration failed for package ‘RGtk2’
* removing ‘/Users/mikes/Library/R/3.4/library/RGtk2’

Can you elaborate @mindexplore about how you loaded the package in XQuarts. I tried and it still didn't work.

First of all thank you very much for this tutorial. I'm struggling on the launch of rattle just by itself. here is the result I get when I try tu use rattle in rstudio :

library(rattle)
R session is headless; GTK+ not initialized.
Rattle: A free graphical interface for data mining with R.
Version 5.0.14 Copyright (c) 2006-2017 Togaware Pty Ltd.
Type 'rattle()' to shake, rattle, and roll your data.
rattle()

(R:88491): Gtk-WARNING **: gtk_disable_setlocale() must be called before gtk_init()
Error in rattle() : Can't load RGtk2.
A windowing system can't be accessed?
Maybe you are using a remote terminal (ssh) or RStudio browser connection.
Consider using remote desktop, ssh -X, or X2Go depending on your platform.
Running rattle() locally on a desktop is the default.

Like you told another user here I tried to first load RGtk2 in the xquartz terminal but it does't seem to work. Do you have any idea on this ?

@zhiyzuo, thanks for you efforts in presenting this tutorial. At Step 7, when applying brew install --with-x11 cairo, brew gave "Warning: cairo: this formula has no --with-x11 option so it will be ignored!", how do you enable the --with-x11 option at this step? Thanks!

does anyone have any idea what the issue is with this load error for RGtk2?

installing to /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/3.5/Resources/library/RGtk2/libs
** R
** demo
** inst
** byte-compile and prepare package for lazy loading
** help
*** installing help indices
** building package indices
** testing if installed package can be loaded
Error: package or namespace load failed for ‘RGtk2’:
.onLoad failed in loadNamespace() for 'RGtk2', details:
call: .RGtkCall("S_gtk_builder_get_type", PACKAGE = "RGtk2")
error: object has no G type
Error: loading failed
Execution halted
ERROR: loading failed

sessionInfo is here:

R version 3.5.0 (2018-04-23)
Platform: x86_64-apple-darwin15.6.0 (64-bit)
Running under: macOS High Sierra 10.13.5

@cratzdo The most recent commit to cairo.rb removed the --with-x11 option. I used brew edit cairo to replace the Formula with the one at: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/1fea60405bf98c6385dfba18c75a7fb667dc3a40/Formula/cairo.rb.

@jamesmnw for(i in 1:1000000){print("THANKS")} That hidden error in the cairo build of ignoring the -x11 flag caused me days of grief. Thanks for pointing that out. Your edit worked perfectly, allowing the rest of the instructions to work. I can now Rattle and RQDA and the world is a better place. :-)

@milti, follow @jamesmnw's advice and make sure to brew reinstall --with-x11 cairo after editing the cairo formula.

Thanks for your detailed advice. But it is still frustrating for me.
After typing "brew install --build-from-source --verbose gtk+" , I received "Error: gtk+ 2.24.32 did not build"
Please help me out. It's too hard for me.

The key to success for me was to use @jamesmnw advice and edit the configuration file for cairo using the formula supplied in his post and build. After that gtk+ build without errors. I could then just follow the instructions to install RGtk2 and cairodevice + rattle. To bad they messed up Homebrews version of cairo and caused all these problems

Hello,
I need help. I am at step 8 with "brew edit gtk+"
When I am done editing the last two lines in df install, I do not know how to save or quit in the terminal.
I did run export EDITOR = vim.
I hope I provided info for troubleshooting.
Thanks a lot.

What is the solution to the below?

~/Downloads -> R CMD INSTALL RGtk2_2.20.34.tar.gz
During startup - Warning messages:
1: Setting LC_TIME failed, using "C"
2: Setting LC_MESSAGES failed, using "C"
3: Setting LC_MONETARY failed, using "C"
* installing to library ‘/usr/local/lib/R/3.5/site-library’
* installing *source* package ‘RGtk2’ ...
** package ‘RGtk2’ successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
checking for pkg-config... /usr/local/bin/pkg-config
checking pkg-config is at least version 0.9.0... yes
checking for INTROSPECTION... no
checking for GTK... no
configure: error: GTK version 2.8.0 required
ERROR: configuration failed for package ‘RGtk2’
* removing ‘/usr/local/lib/R/3.5/site-library/RGtk2’

As directed the version of GTK I manage to install is 2.24.32_2. But for RGtk2 it needs 2.8.0? Could you elaborate on the exact steps to perform to achieve this please?

As I just pointed out in a comment under @zhiyzuo's post (https://zhiyzuo.github.io/installation-rattle/#comment-3944233914), the whole thing can be simplified to this:

system('brew install gtk+')

local({
  if (Sys.info()[['sysname']] != 'Darwin') return()

  .Platform$pkgType = 'mac.binary.el-capitan'
  unlockBinding('.Platform', baseenv())
  assign('.Platform', .Platform, 'package:base')
  lockBinding('.Platform', baseenv())

  options(
    pkgType = 'both', install.packages.compile.from.source = 'always',
    repos = 'https://macos.rbind.org'
  )
})

install.packages(c('RGtk2', 'cairoDevice', 'rattle'))

No more struggling with editing the gtk+ formula :)

thx,it work!