adding RMySQL package to R fails (on Windows)?

Question

I can't figure out why my RMySQL package won't install - here's what I get:

> install.packages('RMySQL',type='source')
trying URL 'http://cran.mirrors.hoobly.com/src/contrib/RMySQL_0.7-5.tar.gz'
Content type 'application/x-gzip' length 160769 bytes (157 Kb)
opened URL
downloaded 157 Kb

* installing *source* package 'RMySQL' ...
ERROR: configuration failed for package 'RMySQL'
* removing 'C:/PROGRA~1/R/R-212~1.0/library/RMySQL'

The downloaded packages are in '(foo)'

Warning message:
In install.packages("RMySQL", type = "source") : installation of package 'RMySQL' had    non-zero exit status

I don't think it's a problem with the MySQL install, as the right values seem to be in the registry:

> Sys.getenv('MYSQL_HOME')
                 MYSQL_HOME "C:/PROGRA~1/MySQL/MYSQLS~1.1/" 
> readRegistry("SOFTWARE\\MySQL AB", hive="HLM", maxdepth=2)
$`MySQL Server 5.1`
$`MySQL Server 5.1`$DataLocation
[1] "C:\\Documents and Settings\\All Users\\Application Data\\MySQL\\MySQL Server 5.1\\"

$`MySQL Server 5.1`$FoundExistingDataDir 
[1] "0"

$`MySQL Server 5.1`$Location 
[1] "C:\\Program Files\\MySQL\\MySQL Server 5.1\\"

$`MySQL Server 5.1`$Version
[1] "5.1.54"

Puzzled. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

The basic process is described here, but there are several hints, So I will describe the whole solution (please change the R version and paths if needed):

1. Install latest RTools from here
2. install MySQL or header and library files of mysql
3. create or edit file C:\Program Files\R\R-2.12.1\etc\Renviron.site and add line like MYSQL_HOME=C:/mysql (path to your mysql files)
4. copy libmysql.lib from mysql/lib to mysql/lib/opt to meet dependencies.
5. copy libmysql.dll to C:\Program Files\R\R-2.12.1\bin or to windows/system32 directory.
6. run install.packages('RMySQL',type='source') and wait while compilation will end.

This worked for me on Windows 7 64 bit, so there should be no problems with 32 bit versions

Initialy posted here (similar question).

Answer 2

First I would try following the directions on this page: http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/wiki/Main/RMySQL

Then, ensure that you actually have a MySQL client on your computer, not just the server itself. I've had a problem myself where I had to use an older binary for the client, but you can download these from mysql website.