CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonrrpy2
pavlov
pavlov

Reputation: 121

Trying to use rpy2 module to call R from Python script -- help setting R home directory?

My goal is to be able to call R from Python 2.7 scripts. I first used easy_install to get the rpy2 module. I then typed the following command into my Spyder console:

from rpy2.robjects.packages import importr

This threw the following error:

"RuntimeError: The R home directory could not be determined.

Try to install R https://www.r-project.org/, set the R_HOME environment variable to the R home directory, or add the directory of the R interpreter to the PATH environment variable."

Looks like the R interpreter within rpy2 is not finding R because it's not in the right directory? I had previously downloaded R and RStudio onto my Mac.

I suspect this is a simple fix, and I hoping someone can explain what exactly this error message means, and how I should update either the R_HOME or PATH environment variables (I'm not sure what these are, exactly).

Upvotes: 1

Views: 2053

Answers (1)

lgautier
lgautier

Reputation: 11545

rpy2 is looking for a executable R in your PATH. This means that when opening a terminal windows and entering R an R terminal should start. Since you are seeing that error message, the odds are that no R is found.

Find where R is, and append that directory to your PATH (e.g., export PATH=/where/R/is:${PATH} - may be put that to your ~/.bashrc if starting spyder by clicking on an app icon).

Upvotes: 1

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