grDevices::windows function is broken when called from IRkernel; appears to be related to the ragg package

[MNRK01]

I have a strange problem that manifests itself with a grDevices::windows() device when ragg is loaded from IRkernel. The manifestation is that when the windows() function is called from an IRkernel prompt, the graphics device frame is shown, but there is no text in the menus. This only occurs within IRkernel and not from other terminals such as radian or from within RStudio.

To see a better description, please see IRkernel/IRkernel#751 which shows screenshots of the issue. Particularly, please see IRkernel/IRkernel#751 (comment) where I can make the graphics device show the menu text by removing the ragg library. I can load the systemfonts and textshaping libraries without any menu text issues. I am happy to repost details and screenshots here if that is helpful.

Having looked at the C code for grDevices, I am not sure how to debug the cause of the issue since I don't have an R executable with debug symbols. My guess at this point is that somehow the fonts used by grDevices or the menu creation process is being blocked.

I am wondering if someone could help me run tests to get to the bottom of the issue?

[MNRK01]

It turns out that this bug has nothing to do with IRkernel. The following code creates the broken windows() device where there is no text associated with the menus.

R version 4.5.1 Patched (2025-07-30 r88506 ucrt) -- "Great Square Root"
Copyright (C) 2025 The R Foundation for Statistical Computing
Platform: x86_64-w64-mingw32/x64

R is free software and comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
You are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions.
Type 'license()' or 'licence()' for distribution details.

  Natural language support but running in an English locale

R is a collaborative project with many contributors.
Type 'contributors()' for more information and
'citation()' on how to cite R or R packages in publications.

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> dev.list()
NULL
> ragg::agg_record()
> dev.list()
agg_record_2078358264
                    2
> windows()
> dev.list()
agg_record_2078358264               windows
                    2                     3
> sessionInfo()
R version 4.5.1 Patched (2025-07-30 r88506 ucrt)
Platform: x86_64-w64-mingw32/x64
Running under: Windows 10 x64 (build 19045)

Matrix products: default
  LAPACK version 3.12.1

locale:
[1] LC_COLLATE=English_United States.utf8
[2] LC_CTYPE=English_United States.utf8
[3] LC_MONETARY=English_United States.utf8
[4] LC_NUMERIC=C
[5] LC_TIME=English_United States.utf8

time zone: America/Chicago
tzcode source: internal

attached base packages:
[1] stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  methods   base

loaded via a namespace (and not attached):
[1] compiler_4.5.1    cli_3.6.5         ragg_1.4.0        textshaping_1.0.1
[5] lifecycle_1.0.4   rlang_1.1.6       systemfonts_1.2.3
>

Once this occurs, I cannot close all the devices and reopen a functioning windows() device. To do that, I need to close the R session and reopen a new one.

R version 4.5.1 Patched (2025-07-30 r88506 ucrt) -- "Great Square Root"
Copyright (C) 2025 The R Foundation for Statistical Computing
Platform: x86_64-w64-mingw32/x64

R is free software and comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
You are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions.
Type 'license()' or 'licence()' for distribution details.

  Natural language support but running in an English locale

R is a collaborative project with many contributors.
Type 'contributors()' for more information and
'citation()' on how to cite R or R packages in publications.

Type 'demo()' for some demos, 'help()' for on-line help, or
'help.start()' for an HTML browser interface to help.
Type 'q()' to quit R.

> windows()
> dev.list()
windows
      2
> sessionInfo()
R version 4.5.1 Patched (2025-07-30 r88506 ucrt)
Platform: x86_64-w64-mingw32/x64
Running under: Windows 10 x64 (build 19045)

Matrix products: default
  LAPACK version 3.12.1

locale:
[1] LC_COLLATE=English_United States.utf8
[2] LC_CTYPE=English_United States.utf8
[3] LC_MONETARY=English_United States.utf8
[4] LC_NUMERIC=C
[5] LC_TIME=English_United States.utf8

time zone: America/Chicago
tzcode source: internal

attached base packages:
[1] stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  methods   base

loaded via a namespace (and not attached):
[1] compiler_4.5.1
>

I believe that opening an agg_record device causes the fonts that the windows device uses to somehow break.

[thomasp85]

You have bumped into the most esoteric bug in R. It is an unexpected DLL name clash in the textshaping package that is responsible and it should be fixed in the dev version

[MNRK01]

I hate to bring this issue up again, but the v. 1.5.0 release does not appear to have fixed the issue. The code below shows that I am using ragg v. 1.5.0. Can this issue be reopened?

R version 4.5.1 Patched (2025-07-30 r88506 ucrt) -- "Great Square Root"
Copyright (C) 2025 The R Foundation for Statistical Computing
Platform: x86_64-w64-mingw32/x64

R is free software and comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
You are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions.
Type 'license()' or 'licence()' for distribution details.

  Natural language support but running in an English locale

R is a collaborative project with many contributors.
Type 'contributors()' for more information and
'citation()' on how to cite R or R packages in publications.

Type 'demo()' for some demos, 'help()' for on-line help, or
'help.start()' for an HTML browser interface to help.
Type 'q()' to quit R.

> dev.list()
NULL
> sessionInfo()
R version 4.5.1 Patched (2025-07-30 r88506 ucrt)
Platform: x86_64-w64-mingw32/x64
Running under: Windows 10 x64 (build 19045)

Matrix products: default
  LAPACK version 3.12.1

locale:
[1] LC_COLLATE=English_United States.utf8
[2] LC_CTYPE=English_United States.utf8
[3] LC_MONETARY=English_United States.utf8
[4] LC_NUMERIC=C
[5] LC_TIME=English_United States.utf8

time zone: America/Chicago
tzcode source: internal

attached base packages:
[1] stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  methods   base

loaded via a namespace (and not attached):
[1] compiler_4.5.1
> ragg::agg_record()
> dev.list()
agg_record_233138516
                   2
> windows()
> sessionInfo()
R version 4.5.1 Patched (2025-07-30 r88506 ucrt)
Platform: x86_64-w64-mingw32/x64
Running under: Windows 10 x64 (build 19045)

Matrix products: default
  LAPACK version 3.12.1

locale:
[1] LC_COLLATE=English_United States.utf8
[2] LC_CTYPE=English_United States.utf8
[3] LC_MONETARY=English_United States.utf8
[4] LC_NUMERIC=C
[5] LC_TIME=English_United States.utf8

time zone: America/Chicago
tzcode source: internal

attached base packages:
[1] stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  methods   base

loaded via a namespace (and not attached):
[1] compiler_4.5.1    cli_3.6.5         ragg_1.5.0        textshaping_1.0.3
[5] lifecycle_1.0.4   rlang_1.1.6       systemfonts_1.2.3
>

[thomasp85]

Sorry, I was a bit hasty in my reply. You need to install the development version of systemfonts to get the fix

[MNRK01]

That works! I got the dev version via install.packages("systemfonts", repos="https://r-lib.r-universe.dev") for anyone who stumbles across this issue and report.

Thank you!