I had thought that one needed to be careful using mapped network drive letters to access network shares under MS Windows -- the current mapping for drive letters can depend on who is current logged in. For non-critical interactive sessions there should be no problems with using mapped network drive letters -- the dangerous scenario is running scheduled tasks on a server.
Microsoft XP docs say: Connecting to network drives Do not use a redirected drive for scheduled jobs that access the network. The Schedule service might not be able to access the redirected drive, or the redirected drive might not be present if a different user is logged on at the time the scheduled task runs. Instead, use UNC paths for scheduled jobs. For example: at 1:00pm my_backup \\server\share Do not use the following syntax, where x: is a connection made by the user: at 1:00pm my_backup x: (this is from the documentation for the "At" command, http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/at.mspx?mfr=true ) In addition to Prof Ripley's suggestion of setting up drive mapping using domain controllers, another workaround might be doing something like "net use x: \\server\share" in a scheduled task script. -- Tony Plate Prof Brian Ripley wrote: > On Wed, 21 Jun 2006, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > >>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. > > > It can easily be done via the domain controller: my sysadmins do it. > > >>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). > > > This should work now that I have changed dirname (to do precisely that), > but as I have no suitable test examples I cannot be sure. > > >> >>cheers, roy >> >> >>-----Original Message----- >>From: Prof Brian Ripley [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 1:57 AM >>To: Kuraisa, Roy J (Rosetta) >>Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>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, [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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@r-project.org mailing list >>>https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel >>> >>> >> >> > ______________________________________________ R-devel@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel