[R] Running R from a read-only CD

[Charles Annis, P.E.]

I'm not sure how not to use chm help, since that's the only way I've ever
done things.

But why would things work well from a USB Flash Drive and not for a CD when
the folders are identical?  (The CD was burned from the image on the Flash
Drive.)



Charles Annis, P.E.

Charles.Annis at StatisticalEngineering.com
phone: 561-352-9699
eFax:  614-455-3265
http://www.StatisticalEngineering.com
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Duncan Murdoch [mailto:murdoch at stats.uwo.ca] 
Sent: Monday, May 25, 2009 5:23 PM
To: Charles.Annis at StatisticalEngineering.com
Cc: r-help at r-project.org
Subject: Re: [R] Running R from a read-only CD

On 25/05/2009 5:18 PM, Charles Annis, P.E. wrote:
> After reading your suggested page, it does appear that the problem is a
> security feature that I will have to live with since the CDs will be
running
> on borrowed computers.
> 
> BUT, if the same R-folder is loaded from a USB Flash Drive, rather than a
> CD, the help files work just fine.  So perhaps there is another way.
> 
> Any other ideas?

Don't use CHM help.

Duncan Murdoch


> Charles Annis, P.E.
> 
> Charles.Annis at StatisticalEngineering.com
> phone: 561-352-9699
> eFax:  614-455-3265
> http://www.StatisticalEngineering.com
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Duncan Murdoch [mailto:murdoch at stats.uwo.ca] 
> Sent: Monday, May 25, 2009 4:57 PM
> To: Charles.Annis at StatisticalEngineering.com
> Cc: r-help at r-project.org
> Subject: Re: [R] Running R from a read-only CD
> 
> On 25/05/2009 4:40 PM, Charles Annis, P.E. wrote:
>> Dear R-helpers:
>>
>> I created a folder containing R on a read-only CD and use it by having
the
>> R-icon, located on the Windows desktop, point to the CD 
>> (R-2.8.1\bin\Rgui.exe) for the "Target," and to a Windows Desktop folder
> for
>> "Start in."
>>
>> This works nicely EXCEPT that the R help() function cannot display
> anything,
>> and presents a screen message saying "This program cannot display
> webpage."
>> This is especially frustrating because on the left of what would be the
> help
>> window is the exhaustive list of all the functions for which R can
provide
>> help (but can't display anything).
>>
>> Can anyone provide guidance?
>>
>> Here is the obligatory session information:
>> ....................
>>> sessionInfo()
>> R version 2.8.1 (2008-12-22) 
>> i386-pc-mingw32 
>>
>> locale:
>> LC_COLLATE=English_United States.1252;LC_CTYPE=English_United
>> States.1252;LC_MONETARY=English_United
>> States.1252;LC_NUMERIC=C;LC_TIME=English_United States.1252
>>
>> attached base packages:
>> [1] splines   tcltk     stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets
>> methods   base     
>>
>> other attached packages:
>> [1] mh1823_2.5.4.1     survival_2.35-3    RColorBrewer_1.0-2 RODBC_1.2-5
>>
>> ....................
>>
>> Thanks!
> 
> 
> This sounds like a Windows security feature, because .CHM is a risky 
> format.  There's a page here
> 
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896054
> 
> that tells you how to turn it off.  Alternatively, you can choose one of 
> the other help formats in R besides CHM help.
> 
> Duncan Murdoch