Executing a batch file in an R script

I would like to execute a batch file from a R script. The file is in a directory like `\\network\path\to\batch\file.bat`.

I know I can use the `system` command in R to run DOS commands but I can't simply use `system("start file.bat")`. So how would I best use R script to execute this batch file?

try
shell('\\network\path\to\batch\file.bat')

Try `shell.exec("\\\\network\\path\\file.bat")`

The `shell.exec` command uses the Windows-associated application to open the file. Note the double back-ticks.

Pro tip: `write.csv(file='tmp.csv',tmpdat);shell.exec('tmp.csv')` is useful (assuming you've associated CSV files with your preferred application for viewing CSV files) for quickly checking output.

I found this problem when using RSelenium in Windows as well but using [this batch file][1] made sure to close all chromedriver processes. I was ending up with a ton of these processes after a lengthy scraping session.

My solution was to execute the batch file from within the R script every so often by using:

shell.exec(file.path(getwd(), "kill_chromedriver.bat"))


[1]:

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This is what I did on windows platform.

cmd='\\prj\\whatkit\\test.bat'
system(cmd, intern = TRUE, show.output.on.console = TRUE)