[R] http proxies: setting and unsetting

[matt.pettis at thomson.com]

OK, I think I get that... do you know which namespace the Sys.setenv() function affects?  Do you know if there are functions in R that can alter the user/system/process environment variables?

Thanks,
Matt


-----Original Message-----
From: Gabor Grothendieck [mailto:ggrothendieck at gmail.com]
Sent: Tue 5/29/2007 10:20 PM
To: Pettis, Matthew (Thomson)
Cc: r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch
Subject: Re: [R] http proxies: setting and unsetting
 
You can have 4 different http_proxy environment variables and if you
set one type but try to unset a different type then that will have no
effect on the one you originally set.  For example, if you originally
set it as a system or user environment variable and then try to
unset the process environment variable of the same name then
that will have no effect on the system or user environment variable.

On 5/29/07, matt.pettis at thomson.com <matt.pettis at thomson.com> wrote:
> Hi Gabor,
>
> Thanks for the reply and link.
>
> I took a look at the link -- one thing I don't understand is why if I delete the 'http_proxy' variable via the cmd shell (or equivalent OS dialog box), why I can get R to ignore the proxy, but using Sys.setenv("http_proxy"="") won't do that for me (at least for the scope of the session).  If there were other variables affecting it, I would think my deleting 'http_proxy' in the OS would also have no effect -- yet it does.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks again,
> Matt
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gabor Grothendieck [mailto:ggrothendieck at gmail.com]
> Sent: Tue 5/29/2007 9:49 PM
> To: Pettis, Matthew (Thomson)
> Cc: r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch
> Subject: Re: [R] http proxies: setting and unsetting
>
> Note that Windows XP has 4 types of environment variables and I suspect
> that the problem stems from not taking that into account:
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/guide/sas_wsh_kmmj.mspx?mfr=true
>
> On 5/29/07, matt.pettis at thomson.com <matt.pettis at thomson.com> wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I am trying to use R at work and at home on the same computer.  At work, I have a proxy, and at home, I do not.  I have, for work, a User environment variable "http_proxy" which I set in the OS (Windows XP Pro).  When I am at work, and I try to retrieve data from the web with 'read.csv', things work just fine.  I assume it knows how to use the proxy.
> >
> > The trouble is when I am at home and have no proxy, R still tries to use my work proxy.  I have tried the following:
> >
> > Sys.setenv("http_proxy"="")
> > Sys.setenv("no_proxy"=TRUE)
> > Sys.setenv("no_proxy"=1)
> >
> > none of which seems to work.  Whenever I try to use read.csv, it tells me that it cannot find my work proxy, which I am trying to tell R to ignore.
> >
> > I can solve this problem by removing the http_proxy environment variable binding in the OS when at home, but that is a pain, because then I have to reset it when I go back into work.
> >
> > Is there a way to tell R within a session to ignore the proxy?  If so, what am I doing wrong?
> >
> > thanks,
> > matt
> >
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>
>