R devel - Jun 2006 - loading library from network share (PR#8982)

Full_Name: roy kuraisa
Version: 2.2.1
OS: Windows XP SP2
Submission from: (NULL) (155.91.28.232)


When loading a library from network share drive (e.g., \\nnn\f1\f2\p1), when
First.lib is called, the libray name contains "/" instead of
"\" resulting in an
invalid Windows filepath.

Here's an example:
>From R,
> library(foo.lib="\\\\kodak\\research_genetics\\rlibs");
Within First.lib,
.First.lib <-function(lib, pkg)
{
    cat("lib name ",lib,"\n")
}
produces the output
   lib name //kodak/research_genetics/rlibs

This is not supported: network shares are a Windows 'feature' and not
part
of R's conception of file paths.  The specific issue here is dirname(), 
but it is widespread.

You can always map shares to network drives, and that is common practice 
everywhere I have been which has extensive Windows networks.

We have changed the dirname case, but have no intention of supporting this 
sort of file path in general, as one of the design goals of the Windows 
port of R was to work as similarly to the Unix-alikes as possible (and to 
share as much code as possible).

On Wed, 14 Jun 2006, roy_kuraisa at merck.com wrote:
> Full_Name: roy kuraisa
> Version: 2.2.1
> OS: Windows XP SP2
> Submission from: (NULL) (155.91.28.232)
>
>
> When loading a library from network share drive (e.g., \\nnn\f1\f2\p1),
when
> First.lib is called, the libray name contains "/" instead of
"\" resulting in an
> invalid Windows filepath.
>
> Here's an example:
>> From R,
>> library(foo.lib="\\\\kodak\\research_genetics\\rlibs");
> Within First.lib,
> .First.lib <-function(lib, pkg)
> {
>    cat("lib name ",lib,"\n")
> }
> produces the output
>   lib name //kodak/research_genetics/rlibs
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>
>
-- 
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272866 (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595

Thanks for the info.  

It's interesting that R can load the library using a network share naming
convention but that the library path has the "\" replaced with
"/".  I guess
it's too much to ask for R not to muck with the file name provided (for a
variety of reasons).  My package works fine except for knowing the correct
library path.  

As for mapping a drive, that's not a good solution for us because it would
require users to always create a specific map drive (which on their desktop
may not be available; when we add packages to other network shares, requires
additional maps; etc).  Overall, it's not a very flexible solution for us.

My work around which, at least in my unique case, is a bit more flexible
(but a little more klunky) is to add code in .First.lib that substitutes
"\\" for "//" (because I need to read a cfg file in the
"data" folder of the
package when it is loaded).


cheers, roy


-----Original Message-----
From: Prof Brian Ripley [mailto:ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk] 
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 1:57 AM
To: Kuraisa, Roy J (Rosetta)
Cc: R-bugs at biostat.ku.dk
Subject: Re: [Rd] loading library from network share (PR#8982)


This is not supported: network shares are a Windows 'feature' and not
part
of R's conception of file paths.  The specific issue here is dirname(), 
but it is widespread.

You can always map shares to network drives, and that is common practice 
everywhere I have been which has extensive Windows networks.

We have changed the dirname case, but have no intention of supporting this 
sort of file path in general, as one of the design goals of the Windows 
port of R was to work as similarly to the Unix-alikes as possible (and to 
share as much code as possible).

On Wed, 14 Jun 2006, roy_kuraisa at merck.com wrote:
> Full_Name: roy kuraisa
> Version: 2.2.1
> OS: Windows XP SP2
> Submission from: (NULL) (155.91.28.232)
>
>
> When loading a library from network share drive (e.g., \\nnn\f1\f2\p1),
when
> First.lib is called, the libray name contains "/" instead of
"\" resulting
in an
> invalid Windows filepath.
>
> Here's an example:
>> From R,
>> library(foo.lib="\\\\kodak\\research_genetics\\rlibs");
> Within First.lib,
> .First.lib <-function(lib, pkg)
> {
>    cat("lib name ",lib,"\n")
> }
> produces the output
>   lib name //kodak/research_genetics/rlibs
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>
>
-- 
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272866 (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595