[R] RODBC crashes R Gui

[S.P.Brooks at statslab.cam.ac.uk]

Hi all,

I have a problem with the RODBC package running in on Windows XP. When 
setting up the DSN, I leave the username and password values blank so that 
the user is prompted for these when trying to connect to the server (in 
this case a MySQL server). I can enter the details, but when I press return 
in the login window R simply crashes with the usual windows message "An 
error has occured, do you want to tell Microsoft about it". I've tried it 
with two different versions of R, with two different MySQL servers (one 
Windows, one Linux) and on two different machines.

My SQL server is 5.0.45-community.
My Windows ODBC driver is version 03.51.17
My R version is 2.5.1

Anybody else have the same problem? More importantly, does anyone have a 
solution?

In addition, does anyone know of a more secure way of interacting with 
MySQL in R i.e., that doesn't involve creating a variable containing 
unencrypted username and password information?

All suggestions gratefully received.

Best Wishes,

Steve

--
Prof. Steve Brooks
Statistical Laboratory
University of Cambridge