R help - Mar 2004 - Rcmd BATCH command line arguments

I want to run Rcmd BATCH with R_DEFAULT_PACKAGE=base so it doesn't load any
packages, but it seems to reject this argument because it does not start
with a '-' or '--'.  Is there a different argument that will
work?  Thanks.

Benjamin Stabler
Transportation Planning Analysis Unit
Oregon Department of Transportation
555 13th Street NE, Suite 2
Salem, OR 97301  Ph: 503-986-4104

On Tue, 9 Mar 2004 Benjamin.STABLER at odot.state.or.us wrote:
> I want to run Rcmd BATCH with R_DEFAULT_PACKAGE=base so it doesn't load
any
> packages, but it seems to reject this argument because it does not start
> with a '-' or '--'.  Is there a different argument that
will work?  Thanks.
It is not a command-line argument!  In Rterm.exe you can set environment
variables this way, but not in Rcmd.exe.  So set the environment variable
R_DEFAULT_PACKAGE>S< to NULL, not base which is always loaded.  See 
?Startup for the documentation (which is correct) and the rw-FAQ for how 
to set environment variables.

-- 
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

Okay, thanks.  But it seems inconsistent that Rterm and Rgui support setting
environment variables this way while Rcmd does not.  Also, I don't think the
rw-FAQ is all that helpful on this issue.  It says:

Environment variables can be set in R in three different ways.
  1. On the command line as name=value pairs.  For example in the
     shortcut to `RGui' you could have

          path_to_R\bin\Rgui.exe HOME=p:/ R_LIBS=p:/myRlib

  2. In an environment file ..........

It would be clearer if point one said that it only applies to Rterm and Rgui
but not Rcmd.  

Ben Stabler
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Prof Brian Ripley [mailto:ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk]
>Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 11:49 PM
>To: STABLER Benjamin
>Cc: r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch
>Subject: Re: [R] Rcmd BATCH command line arguments 
>
>
>On Tue, 9 Mar 2004 Benjamin.STABLER at odot.state.or.us wrote:
>
>> I want to run Rcmd BATCH with R_DEFAULT_PACKAGE=base so it 
>doesn't load any
>> packages, but it seems to reject this argument because it 
>does not start
>> with a '-' or '--'.  Is there a different argument that
will
>work?  Thanks.
>
>It is not a command-line argument!  In Rterm.exe you can set 
>environment
>variables this way, but not in Rcmd.exe.  So set the 
>environment variable
>R_DEFAULT_PACKAGE>S< to NULL, not base which is always loaded.  See 
>?Startup for the documentation (which is correct) and the 
>rw-FAQ for how 
>to set environment variables.
>
>-- 
>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
>