[Rd] Finding windows DLLs

[Prof Brian Ripley]

On Mon, 7 Jan 2008, Oleg Sklyar wrote:

> Should adding PREFIX/library/XML/libs to PATH before system32 solve the
> issue as Windows relies on PATH when searching for libs as well?

The Windows code for package XML says

> XML:::.onLoad
function (libname, pkgname)
{
     if (.Platform$OS.type == "windows") {
         temp <- Sys.getenv("PATH")
         Sys.setenv(PATH = paste(utils::normalizePath(file.path(libname,
             pkgname, "libs")), temp, sep = ";"))
         on.exit(Sys.setenv(PATH = temp))
     }
     library.dynam("XML", pkgname, libname)
     if (exists("setMethod")) {
     }
     .C("RSXML_setErrorHandlers")
}
<environment: namespace:XML>

so it does already do that.

The order depends on the version of Windows *and* its settings: see

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms682586(VS.85).aspx

There is a way to change this:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms686203(VS.85).aspx

but it would preclude Windows 2000.

Perhaps Martin can explain how libxml2.dll got into c:/WINDOWS/system32/?
My suggestion is that we rename the DLL when copied into library/XML/libs 
to something like libRxml2.dll.

>
> Dr Oleg Sklyar | EBI-EMBL, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK | +44-1223-494466
>
>
> Martin Morgan wrote:
>> The XML package relies on libxml2.dll (e.g., bundled with the CRAN
>> binary) installed in library/XML/libs. Unfortunately,
>> c:/WINDOWS/system32/libxml2.dll will be found and loaded before
>> this.
>>
>> Is there any programatic solution?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Martin

-- 
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272866 (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595