Identify R Package Dependencies Using miniCRAN

Installing R packages in SQL Server 2017 is a breeze with the stored procedure sp_execute_external_script. But so far, it is limited to installing one package at a time. If you have an R Package with dependencies, you have to install those in a separate transaction.

Here’s an easy way to check for package dependencies using the package miniCRAN.

Using RGUI.exe

Find RGUI.exe in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.MSSQLSERVER\R_SERVICES\bin\x64. Run the executable as an administrator (Right-Click & Select “Run as administrator”).

If you want to add the new package to the default library, you have to tell the installer exactly that by using the lib argument.

install.packages("miniCRAN", lib="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft SQL Server\\MSSQL14.MSSQLSERVER\\R_SERVICES\\library")

Then you should get a message like this one:

trying URL 'https://mran.microsoft.com/snapshot/2017-05-01/bin/windows/contrib/3.3/miniCRAN_0.2.7.zip'
Content type 'application/zip' length 1025529 bytes (1001 KB)
downloaded 1001 KB

package ‘miniCRAN’ successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked

The downloaded binary packages are in
C:\Users\Marlon.Ribunal\AppData\Local\Temp\Rtmp4UPMso\downloaded_packages

You can find all your library paths by the .libPaths() function.

> .libPaths()
[1] "C:/Users/Marlon.Ribunal/Documents/R/win-library/3.3" 
[2] "C:/Program Files/Microsoft SQL Server/MSSQL14.MSSQLSERVER/R_SERVICES/library"

Then we can double check real quick if the package actually made it:

sp_execute_external_script @language = N'R',
 @script = N'OutputDataSet <- data.frame(installed.packages())';

Then

> library("miniCRAN")
> pkg <- "ggplot2"
> pkgDep(pkg)

Results:

You may not need all the listed packages. Check the web page for the package you’re installing for the info.

Originally published at SQL, Code, Coffee, Etc..