When I install a new version of R (Windows XP) I have to: 1. copy my rw....\etc\Rprofile.site file to the new installation 2. copy the rw....\share\texmf files to the tex subfolder of the miktex root directory and then refresh the miktex name database (I have a batch file that does this for me which I run whenever I install a new version of R.) 3. setup the shortcut key using 'properties' on my R desktop icon so that ctrl-alt-R brings up the new rather than the old R. (This one really had me confused once since I did not realize I was still using the old version of R after installing the new one.) 4. reinstall the packages I use or else setup etc\Renviron.site with an R_LIBS to point to include the old library or perhaps one can copy the libraries over being careful not to overwrite new versions of the standard libraries. Many other windows program automatically transfer the settings when you upgrade them. I wonder if the installation process could optionally transfer such settings from an old installation to a new one to make it easier to install R.
On 6/30/2005 8:10 AM, Gabor Grothendieck wrote:> When I install a new version of R (Windows XP) I have to: > > 1. copy my rw....\etc\Rprofile.site file to the new installation > > 2. copy the rw....\share\texmf files to the tex subfolder of the > miktex root directory and then refresh the miktex name database > (I have a batch file that does this for me which I run > whenever I install a new version of R.) > > 3. setup the shortcut key using 'properties' on my R desktop icon so > that ctrl-alt-R brings up the new rather than the old R. (This one > really had me confused once since I did not realize I was still > using the old version of R after installing the new one.) > > 4. reinstall the packages I use or else setup etc\Renviron.site with > an R_LIBS to point to include the old library or perhaps one can > copy the libraries over being careful not to overwrite new versions > of the standard libraries. > > Many other windows program automatically transfer the settings when > you upgrade them. > > I wonder if the installation process could optionally transfer > such settings from an old installation to a new one to make it > easier to install R.I think a couple of these could be handled by not applying so many modifications to the R installation, do more locally. For example, #1 needn't be copied, you can just use the R_ENVIRON environment variable to point to it and both versions will see it. I'd call #2 a bug in MikTeX, but it's probably one we'll have to work around one of these days. (The bug is dropping support for the environment variable specification of extra include directories.) #3 might be something we could do, but I don't see how. The installer could know what hotkey you used the last time you installed R, but if you changed it in the meantime, how would it know about that? And how would it remove the hotkey from the old shortcut? (A little experimentation suggests that XP is buggy in handling multiple shortcuts with the same hotkey. I'd rather stay away from this.) #4 is another case where you can put your libraries outside R_HOME. Duncan Murdoch
Gabor Grothendieck wrote:> When I install a new version of R (Windows XP) I have to: > > 1. copy my rw....\etc\Rprofile.site file to the new installation > > 2. copy the rw....\share\texmf files to the tex subfolder of the > miktex root directory and then refresh the miktex name database > (I have a batch file that does this for me which I run > whenever I install a new version of R.) > > 3. setup the shortcut key using 'properties' on my R desktop icon so > that ctrl-alt-R brings up the new rather than the old R. (This one > really had me confused once since I did not realize I was still > using the old version of R after installing the new one.) > > 4. reinstall the packages I use or else setup etc\Renviron.site with > an R_LIBS to point to include the old library or perhaps one can > copy the libraries over being careful not to overwrite new versions > of the standard libraries. > > Many other windows program automatically transfer the settings when > you upgrade them. > > I wonder if the installation process could optionally transfer > such settings from an old installation to a new one to make it > easier to install R.I install each new version of R to a directory ...\R\rcurrent (first renaming the previous rcurrent directory to its "official" name rw....). Having set up the shortcut key one time, on subsequent installations I tick the installer's checkbox "Don't create a Start Menu folder". I keep a separate directory ...\R\library for nonstandard packages, with environment variable R_LIBS set to the directory name. My miktex.ini file specifies ...\R\rcurrent\share\texmf as a place to look for input files. That should take care of your points 3, 4, and 2, respectively. Duncan's suggestion of an R_ENVIRON environment variable (which I didn't know about; thanks, Duncan) should take care of point 1. Jon Hosking