R help - Jun 2011 - Reset R's library to base packages only (remove all installed contributed packages)

Dear list,

is there a way to comfortably "reset" R's library such that it
only
contains only the base packages again? In other words, how can I 
uninstall all contributed packages that I installed? Is there some sort 
of index that's keeping track of what has been installed? If so, a 
pointer would be great.

AFAIU, if you don't create such an "index file" yourself and loose
track
of what you installed, probably the best way to "reset" R is to
actually
re-install it. That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid.

I would like something like

path.lib <- "path/to/R/lib"
pkgs.to.remove <- readLines(path.to.index.file)
sapply(pkgs.to.remove, uninstall.packages, lib=path.lib)

Best regards,
Janko

On 14.06.2011 12:04, Janko Thyson wrote:
> Dear list,
>
> is there a way to comfortably "reset" R's library such that
it only
> contains only the base packages again? In other words, how can I
> uninstall all contributed packages that I installed? Is there some sort
> of index that's keeping track of what has been installed? If so, a
> pointer would be great.
>
> AFAIU, if you don't create such an "index file" yourself and
loose track
> of what you installed, probably the best way to "reset" R is to
actually
> re-install it. That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid.
>
> I would like something like
>
> path.lib <- "path/to/R/lib"
> pkgs.to.remove <- readLines(path.to.index.file)
ip <- installed.packages()
pkgs.to.remove <- ip[!(ip[,"Priority"] %in% c("base",
"recommended")), 1]

This way you select all installed packages that do not ship with R (as 
base or recommended ones).

Uwe Ligges




> sapply(pkgs.to.remove, uninstall.packages, lib=path.lib)
>
> Best regards,
> Janko
>
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