RGG: A general GUI Framework for R scripts

Background: R is the leading open source statistics software with a
vast number of biostatistical and bioinformatical analysis
packages. To exploit the advantages of R, extensive
scripting/programming skills are required. Results: We have
developed a software tool called R GUI Generator (RGG) which
enables the easy generation of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) for
the programming language R by adding a few Extensible Markup
Language (XML) - tags. RGG consists of an XML-based GUI definition
language and a Java-based GUI engine. GUIs are generated in runtime
from defined GUI tags that are embedded into the R script. User-GUI
input is returned to the R code and replaces the XML-tags. RGG
files can be developed using any text editor. The current version
of RGG is available as a stand-alone software (RGGRunner) and as a
plug-in for JGR. Conclusion: RGG is a general GUI framework for R
that has the potential to introduce R statistics (R packages,
built-in functions and scripts) to users with limited programming
skills and helps to bridge the gap between R developers and
GUI-dependent users. RGG aims to abstract the GUI development from
individual GUI toolkits by using an XML-based GUI definition
language. Thus RGG can be easily integrated in any software. The
RGG project further includes the development of a web-based
repository for RGG-GUIs. RGG is an open source project licensed
under the Lesser General Public License (LGPL) and can be
downloaded freely at http://rgg.r-forge.r-project.org