Interfacing R with other non-Java languages / Compiling R to executable

Question

I've developed a .R script that works with a DB, does a bunch of processing and outputs graphs and tables. I can output that data as comma-separated values and pictures, to later import them on my software, that I have no issue.

The problem is how can I distribute my application without having to make a complete install of R on the client. I've seen things like RJava, but my app is on VB6 (yeah...) and I don't see any libraries, or ways to compile to exe. The compile package only makes compiled versions of any function you define, like what psyco used to do for Python (before Pypy).

Does anyone have some insight on compiling R to avoid having the user to install an entire additional software?

EDIT: Does an R compiler exist? This question relates deeply to mine, but I haven't seen how it can be used to make a full script an exe. You can just compile a main function and cat it to a file? Is that even possible?

Answer 1

The short answer is "no, that will not work".

There simply is no compiler that allows you to shrink-wrap your app. So your best best may be either

• using the headless Rserve over the network, or
• using the R (D)COM server used by RExcel et al