[R] Problem with memory for large datasets

Uwe Ligges ligges at statistik.uni-dortmund.de
Wed Sep 24 17:53:13 CEST 2003


ZABALZA-MEZGHANI Isabelle wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> I would like to know if there is a possibility to "clean" the R memory
> during a R session. In fact, I realize a lot of instruction with large
> objects (matrix of 500*5000), and I can not manage to achieve the end of my
> script due to memory lack. Of course, I've tried to remove all "temporary
> object" during the script execution and to perform a garbage collector ...
> But it seems to have no effect ...
> 
> Any idea to solve this problem without an exit from R ?
> 
> Regards
> 
> Isabelle

After you have removed unnecessary objects, the only thing you can do is 
to increase the memory limit R uses (given you are on Windows). See 
?memory.limit for details.
Attention: raising it will cause your system to begin swapping heavily.

The best solution is to buy some more memory and/or optimize your code 
(given that's possible).

Uwe Ligges




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