[R] R CMD not recognized at command-line

Elizabeth Purdom
Tue, 10 Jan 2006 19:50:56 -0000

Hi,
I am trying to run a batch command on Windows XP and R CMD is not
recognized. I get the error,

"'R' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable
program
or batch file."

I have "C:\Program Files\R\rw2010\bin" in my $PATH variable and
Rcmd.exe
has been installed in that folder. I have restarted the computer to make
sure any changes in the $PATH variable registered. I have tried directly
calling Rcmd.exe or R.exe. None of this had any effect and I can't think
what I'm forgetting. In Cygwin,  I can get around this by explicitly giving
the path at the prompt line, for example,

 > ~/Program\ Files/R/rw2010/bin/R CMD --help

This work-around does not seem work from the usual DOS Command Prompt, but
I rarely use DOS commands so I may be missing something in syntax.
Similarly, if I want to run several successive input files with a .bat
file, this work-around won't work as a line in the .bat file.

I have two questions:
1) how can I make the computer recognize R so I can just type R CMD at the
prompt
2) what is a work-around like I did in cygwin that will work in a .bat file
or the standard command-line prompt so that you don't have to change the
path variable? (often students do not have permission to add the R folder
to the path variable of a networked computer, so I'd like to know an
alternative if someone asks me)

Thanks,
Elizabeth Purdom