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Prometheus users

Source: vignettes/prometheus.Rmd
prometheus.Rmd

If your computer has had Prometheus installed on it, it is likely you will encounter a GDAL error 1 when using any of the spatial data libraries in R. The two fixes described on this page will stop Prometheus from interfering with the R spatial data libraries. These solutions will not affect Prometheus from running.

Why this occurs

During the installation of Prometheus a path is added to your computer operating system settings to help the program find it’s own version of a database file that is required for spatial data projections. The way it is installed means that the R libraries cannot find their own (and more current) version of the projection database file they require to do spatial data operations.

Confirm issue

First, confirm if Prometheus will interfere with the fireexposuR package.

This step must be completed in a fresh R session. You can restart R by pressing Ctrl+Shift+F10 on your keyboard or by clicking ‘Restart R’ in the Session menu.

Run the following code in your console:

Sys.getenv("PROJ_LIB")

If the console prints a path with “Prometheus” in it, you will need to move on to the next section. Here is an example of what the path might look like:

"C:\\Program Files\\Prometheus\\proj_nad\\"

If the console prints a blank path like this "" that means Prometheus will not interfere with R. You do not have to take any additional next steps!

Fix for only the current R session

This fix is only temporary and will need to be repeated every time you open a new R session. If you would like a more permanent fix, proceed to the next section.

Before loading any spatial libraries (e.g. fireexposuR, terra):

  1. Run this code in the console:
Sys.setenv(PROJ_LIB = "")
  1. Confirm the system environment is no longer defaulting to the Prometheus path:
Sys.getenv("PROJ_LIB")

It should now print "" instead of the path with “Prometheus” in it. You can now load spatial data libraries and they should work without interference during your current R session.

Fix for all future R sessions

We can initialize R to fix the PROJ_LIB environment path automatically every time a new session starts.

  1. Run this code in your RStudio console:
usethis::edit_r_environ()

NOTE: If you get the error there is no package called 'usethis' follow these steps:

  1. Run install.packages("usethis") in the console

  2. Follow any additional steps if prompted

  3. Run the code above again

A file named “.Renviron” will open for you. If you’ve never modified this file before, it will be completely blank.

  1. Add the following to the first line of your “.Renviron” file:

PROJ_LIB=""

  1. Save the file (Ctrl+S on your keyboard, or click the save icon)

  2. Restart your R session (Ctrl+Shift+F10 on your keyboard, or from the Session menu click ‘Restart R’)

  3. Confirm the system environment is no longer defaulting to the Prometheus path:

Sys.getenv("PROJ_LIB")

It should now print "" instead of a path with “Prometheus” in it.