[R] shell and shell.exec on Windows

[jim holtman]

If you are using Windows, then try:

system('cmd /c yourfile.xls')

This will invoke the windows command processor and it should pick the
correct association.

On 8/11/07, Erich Neuwirth <erich.neuwirth at univie.ac.at> wrote:
> Thanks Gabor,
> system() indeed would be the answer, but it does not solve my problem
> because of some inconsistencies in WindowsXP.
> I will explain the story, because perhaps it can help somebody else to
> avoid wasting time.
> On my machine, when I doubleclick an .xlsm file, it is opened in Excel
> 2007. .xls files are opened in Excel 2003.
> shell.exec("file.xls") and shell.exec("file.xlsm")
> also open the files in Excel 2003 and Excel 2007 respectively.
>
> system() does not invoke a shell, so I need to find the application
> associated with Excel to create a string with the name
> of the application and the name of the file to open.
> Then, something like
> system("\"c:\\mypath\\CorrectVersionOfExcel.exe\"
> \"c:\\mydir\\myexcelfile.xlsm\"")
> should work (and run the program invisibly)
>
> There are two helpful shell commands in WinXP
> ASSOC and FTYPE
>
> ASSOC .xls
>   .xls=Excel.Sheet.8
>
> ASSOC .xlsm
>   .xlsm=Excel.SheetMacroEnabled.12
>
> ftype Excel.Sheet.8
>  Excel.Sheet.8="C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE" /e
>
> ftype Excel.SheetMacroEnabled.12
>  Excel.SheetMacroEnabled.12="C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE" /e
>
> So despite the fact that doubleclicking .xlsm files or using
> "shell.exec" opens Excel 2007
> the application reported by assoc and ftype for .xlsm files is Excel 2003.
>
>
> Gabor Grothendieck wrote:
> > The system() function has an invisible= argument.  The ryacas package
> > uses system() to run yacas.  See the runYacas() and
> > yacasInvokeString() functions in yacas.R for examples:
> >    http://ryacas.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/R/yacas.R
> >
> > On 8/11/07, Erich Neuwirth <erich.neuwirth at univie.ac.at> wrote:
> >> I have an Excel workbook "MyWorkbook.xls" containing an Auto_Open macro
> >> which I want to be run from R.
> >>
> >> shell.exec("MyWorkbook.xls")
> >> does that.
> >>
> >> shell("start MyWorkbook.xls")
> >> also runs it.
> >>
> >> In both cases, the Excel window is visible on screen when Excel is started.
> >> Is there a way of opening the sheet with a hidden Excel window?
> >> start has some parameters (e.g. /MIN), which should allow this, but
> >> shell("start /MIN MyWorkbook.xls")
> >> also starts Excel visibly.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Erich Neuwirth, University of Vienna
> >> Faculty of Computer Science
> >> Computer Supported Didactics Working Group
> >> Visit our SunSITE at http://sunsite.univie.ac.at
> >> Phone: +43-1-4277-39464 Fax: +43-1-4277-39459
> >>
> >> ______________________________________________
> >> R-help at stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list
> >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> >> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> >> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
> >>
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Erich Neuwirth, University of Vienna
> Faculty of Computer Science
> Computer Supported Didactics Working Group
> Visit our SunSITE at http://sunsite.univie.ac.at
> Phone: +43-1-4277-39464 Fax: +43-1-4277-39459
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
>


-- 
Jim Holtman
Cincinnati, OH
+1 513 646 9390

What is the problem you are trying to solve?