[R] Cannot use R on Windows when installed to an external drive with a space in the path

[Tomas Kalibera]

Dear Marc,

this is probably because short file names are disabled on that external 
drive. R needs short file names to be enabled on the drive where it is 
installed - please check/follow according to Microsoft documentation on 
turning on Short File Names (SFN, aka 8.3 names, 8dot3 names).

Best,
Tomas

On 10/22/2018 03:34 PM, Marc Capavanni via R-help wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> This is my second time posting this, I accidentally sent the first email
> without the proper subject header. Hopefully this won't create any noise
> and a moderator can dismiss the first one.
>
> I'm considering filing this as a bug report but wanted to make sure first
> that I'm not doing something wrong.
>
> A piece of software which I develop installs R as part of its dependencies.
> This normally works perfectly fine. However we noticed a bug when
> installing to external drives on a path that includes a space, RScript.exe
> and R.exe will not work.
>
> E:\Program Files (x86)\R-3-3-3\bin>Rscript.exe
> 'E:\Program' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
> operable program or batch file.
>
> As you can see I'm in the directory itself, and simply calling the
> executable without entering a path.
>
> Similarly, if I do enter the full path with quote marks, I get the same
> issue.
>
> E:\>"E:\Program Files (x86)\R-3-3-3\bin\Rscript.exe"
> 'E:\Program' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
> operable program or batch file.
>
> At this stage I'm thinking it's either an R bug or a Windows bug, but I can
> run the following just fine.
>
> E:\Program Files (x86)\HelloWorldProj\bin>HelloWorldProj.exe
> Hello, world!
>
> I've tested this with two variables.
>
>   A - Using the R installer OR Simply copying the binaries
>   B - Writing to E:\R-3-3-3 OR Writing to E:\Program Files (x86)\R-3-3-3
>
> A does not affect the outcome in any way, however R only works when B uses
> the path without spaces.
>
> I searched elsewhere on the internet for the same and interestingly it was
> another R install with this issue. I believe the commenters here were
> erroneously attributing it to the user.
>
> https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43510438/how-to-run-an-executable-that-contains-a-space-in-path-from-command-line-on-wind
>
> Any thoughts? I'm open to a sensible workaround, and if it is a bug I'm
> happy to raise it.
>
> Thanks,
> Marc
>
> 	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>
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