The install.packages() function in R is the automatic unzipping utility that gets and install packages in R.
How do I find out what directory R has chosen to store packages?
How can I change the directory in which R stores and accesses packages?
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141answers:
3
+2
A:
This is documented in the 'R Installation and Administration' manual that came with your installation.
On my Linux box:
R> .libPaths()
[1] "/usr/local/lib/R/site-library" "/usr/lib/R/site-library"
[3] "/usr/lib/R/library"
R>
meaning that the default path is the first of these. You can override that via an argument to both install.packages() (from inside R) or R CMD INSTALL (outside R).
You can also override by setting the R_LIBS_USER variable.
Dirk Eddelbuettel
2010-04-10 21:50:56
I've got a Windows Vista machine, but assuming the same procedure exists, do you specify the directory in the install.packages() argument list along with the package name?
Milktrader
2010-04-10 22:08:19
Have you discovered 'help(install.packages)' yet? Also, see 'help(Startup)' as per my last comment. And do read those manuals. Lastly, on *doze I tend to just set R_LIBS="C:/opt/R/library" in a file .Renviron. I know you are going to ask about that too -- so do read help(Startup). Ok? ;-)
Dirk Eddelbuettel
2010-04-10 22:30:44
I've got a dozen R manuals on my Kindle (including the 3,000+ page one) and wasn't aware of the Startup help file. I've been reading the manuals and hit a dead-end. Go figure it was a simple answer all along. Do I lose points for RTFM questions <- I don't have many to lose. Thanks again Dirk. See you at R/Finance next week. Ramping up on R skills as best I can so I don't get dusted during the presentations.
Milktrader
2010-04-10 22:37:25
The 3000+ page is a collation of all the help page -- least helpful. The aforemention 'Installation and Admin' one should be very useful for what you are after here.
Dirk Eddelbuettel
2010-04-11 00:58:34
+1
A:
The install.packages command looks through the .libPaths variable. Here's what mine defaults to on OSX:
> .libPaths()
[1] "/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/library"
I don't install packages there by default, I prefer to have them installed in my home directory. In my .Rprofile, I have this line:
.libPaths( "/Users/tex/lib/R" )
This adds the directory "/Users/tex/lib/R" to the front of the .libPaths variable.
James Thompson
2010-04-10 21:51:50
this is what I'd like to do, but how do I access and .Rprofile? The prompt doesn't recognize it as either an object or a function
Milktrader
2010-04-10 22:06:41
It is a _file_. Again, read the fine manual, and/or help(Startup).
Dirk Eddelbuettel
2010-04-10 22:12:45
+1
A:
Thanks for the direction from the above two answerers. James Thompson's suggestion worked best for Windows users.
- Go to where your R program is installed. This is referred to as R_Home in the literature. Once you find it, go to the /etc subdirectory.
C:\R\R-2.10.1\etc
- Select the file in this folder named Rprofile.site. I open it with VIM. You will find this is a bare-bones file with less than 20 lines of code. I inserted the following inside the code:
my custom library path
.libPaths=("C:/R/library")
-the comment added to keep track of what I did to the file.
- In R, typing the .libPaths() function yields the first target at C:/R/Library
NOTE: there is likely more than one way to achieve this, but other methods I tried didn't work for some reason.
Milktrader
2010-04-12 12:57:53