Auto-binding to a USB R installation
Keith
Hello, I am trying to set up both R and RStudio on a portable USB drive (for teaching purposes) on Windows 7. I can get both applications installed on the drive, and set up all add-on packages and working directories to point to the USB folder etc., but am having a minor problem with RStudio-R binding.
RStudio fails to locate my USB R installation (presumably since that installation did not write anything to the Registry), so each time I run RStudio I need to select it from the "Choose R Installation" dialog box. Once I select it, it binds successfully to the installation on all runs until I log out (campus networked machine). But each time I log back in, it needs to be re-bound.
Is there a way to force this particular binding without making use of any temporary files or other files that are not on the USB drive itself? I am really hoping for a self-contained installation of both programs.
-Keith
Comments are currently closed for this discussion. You can start a new one.
Support Staff 2 Posted by Josh Paulson on 09 Aug, 2012 04:36 AM
Keith,
Not exactly sure why RStudio cannot pick this up or if there is going to be anything we can do about it at this time. Just to verify, you are able to get this running, but you have to manually select your version of R by holding the Ctrl key at startup? Also were there any log files if you don't get it to start up?
http://support.rstudio.org/help/kb/troubleshooting/rstudio-applicat...
Also note that the data (user settings, etc.) will always remain on the local home directory of the computer. Thus RStudio is not yet "fully" portable just yet.
http://support.rstudio.org/help/kb/faq/creating-a-portable-version-...
Josh
3 Posted by Ned Pointsman on 09 Aug, 2012 01:23 PM
That's correct --- I can get it running by manually selecting the R
version. I don't even need to hold down Ctrl; the dialog box comes up
automatically. There are no log files.
Thus, as noted, this is a very minor issue ---- more of a "nitpick". But
for future versions it would be great to be able to encode the desired R
installation so as to bypass/override BOTH the "official" detected version
(if one exists) and the dialog box. Perhaps via a command-line option for
RStudio itself? I'm envisioning something like:
rstudio.exe --rinstall "E:\Work\R-2.15.1"
or something like that. Not sure if this would create other problems.
More broadly, a fully portable version, even if it meant reduced
features/customizability, would be great, at least for my purposes. (I
know that RStudio Server is better for teaching, but I don't have access to
a server yet...)
-Keith
Josh Paulson closed this discussion on 13 Aug, 2012 08:28 PM.