[GRASS-dev] changing %HOME% in winGRASS for a better R-winGRASS-integration - discussion

[Anna Petrášová]

On Fri, Nov 18, 2016 at 9:14 AM, Helmut Kudrnovsky <hellik at web.de> wrote:
> hi devs,
>
> the subject question oroginates from
>
> [GRASS-stats] GRASS can't find R packages from personal library on Windows
> https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/grass-stats/2016-November/001690.html
>
> technical background on winGRASS side:
>
> %HOME% is defined in winGRASS by:
>
> for trunk
>
> https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/trunk/lib/init/grass.py#L712
>
> 712     def ensure_home():
> 713         """Set HOME if not set on MS Windows"""
> 714         if windows and not os.getenv('HOME'):
> 715             os.environ['HOME'] = os.path.join(os.getenv('HOMEDRIVE'),
> 716                                               os.getenv('HOMEPATH'))
>
> and for the 7.0.x-line
>
> https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/branches/releasebranch_7_0/lib/init/grass.py#L1338
>
> 1338    # set HOME
> 1339    if windows and not os.getenv('HOME'):
> 1340        os.environ['HOME'] = os.path.join(os.getenv('HOMEDRIVE'),
> 1341                                          os.getenv('HOMEPATH'))
>
> both definitions turn out to be (on the most newer windows boxes) the same
> as %USERPROFILE% (e.g C:\Users\yourusername).
>
> technical background on R side:
>
> if %HOME% is _unset_ on windows, R looks for private libraries in
> C:\Users\yourusername\Documents\R\win-library\3.3, etc)
>
> but if %HOME% is _set_ on windows, R looks for private libraries on the
> wrong place (C:\Users\yourusername\R\win-library\3.3, etc.) <= see the
> missing _Documents_ as opposite to above search path for private libraries;
>
> thus R can't expand its search path to private libraries, as these are
> installed by default in C:\Users\yourusername\Documents\R\win-library\3.3,
> etc.
>
> some ways to overcome this R-winGRASS-integration issue:
>
> (1) add some notes in the GRASS-wiki to add manually R_LIBS_USER (=path to
> private library in R) via the windows control panel permanently or temporary
> in the winGRASS-command console by e.g. set
> R_LIBS_USER=path/to/your/private/
>
> (2) add some notes in the GRASS-wiki how to add R_LIBS_USER in a R session.
>
> (3) add some logic in the windows-winGRASS-bat-start up scripts to add
> R_LIBS_USER

Can we define R_LIBS_USER in R.bat?
https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/trunk/mswindows/external/rbatch/R.bat


>
> (4) add some logic in the (win)GRASS-startup-GUI to define R_LIBS_USER
>
> (5) or see [1] to set %HOME% in windows to %USERPROFILE/Documents instead of
> %USERPROFILE%
>
> add following line
> SET HOME=%USERPROFILE%\Documents
> below
> https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/trunk/mswindows/env.bat#L23
>
> to catch the most common R private library installations.
>
> I couldn't find any hints in the source where %HOME% is used in winGRASS
> modules/scripts.

what happens if we don't set it in grass.py? I can't try now.

Anna

>
> any opinion? any objection? any additions?
>
> [1] https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/grass-stats/2016-November/001705.html
>
>
>
>
> -----
> best regards
> Helmut
> --
> View this message in context: http://osgeo-org.1560.x6.nabble.com/changing-HOME-in-winGRASS-for-a-better-R-winGRASS-integration-discussion-tp5296480.html
> Sent from the Grass - Dev mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
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