Uninstall multiple versions of R (No registry uninstaller entries)

Content Authoring
1

Ok… Multiple versions of R for windows installed.
each installs to its own sub folder within c:\program files\R\
So…
q: unique values of pathnames of folders of folder “R” of program files x64 folder
A: C:\Program Files\R\R-3.2.0
A: C:\Program Files\R\R-3.4.2
A: C:\Program Files\R\R-3.5.2
T: 0.556 ms

Each of those folders contains a “uninst000.exe” which needs a /VERYSILENT appended

So Action script

wait {pathnames of folders of folder “R” of program files x64 folder} &"/unins000.exe /VERYSILENT"
produces an error of course
STATUS: Running action…
Command started - wait C:\Program Files\R\R-3.2.0C:\Program Files\R\R-3.4.2C:\Program Files\R\R-3.5.2 &"/unins000.exe /VERYSILENT"
Command failed (Thread execution failed (2)) wait C:\Program Files\R\R-3.2.0C:\Program Files\R\R-3.4.2C:\Program Files\R\R-3.5.2 &"/unins000.exe /VERYSILENT"

— Result —
Evaluation failed!

So What i need it to do is step through each version folder, run the unins000.exe /VERYSILENT in each folder and then move on to the next and then end…
i tried unique values of pathnames etc… no go.

I know im missing something simple… Just not enough coffee.

Any thoughts?

2

I would use if stamens
so like

if {exist file C:\Program Files\R\R-3.2.0}
dos C:\Program Files\R\R-3.5.2 &"/unins000.exe /VERYSILENT"

if {exist file C:\Program Files\R\R-3.4.2}

something like that. thats what I would do

3

Thanks.and while that would work with just a few known installed versions, there are a total of over 70 possible versions that could have been installed on multiple machines with a low likelihood of 2 being the same.

Im sure there is a more efficient way of doing it.

6

Hey there Pete. Since actionscript doesn’t support looping, for this job you will need to use the technique outlined here.

parameter "TempScript" = "{value of variable "Temp" of environment}\R-BeGone.bat"
appendfile {concatenation "%0d%0a" of (("%22" & it & "\unins000.exe%22 /verysilent && rmdir /s /q %22" & it & "%22") of unique values of pathnames of folders of folder "R" of program files x64 folder)}
appendfile exit /b
delete "{parameter "TempScript"}"
move __appendfile "{parameter "TempScript"}"
waithidden "{parameter "TempScript"}"
delete "{parameter "TempScript"}"

This should result in a batch file with the following contents:

"C:\Program Files\R\R-3.2.0\unins000.exe" /verysilent && rmdir /s /q "C:\Program Files\R\R-3.2.0"
"C:\Program Files\R\R-3.4.2\unins000.exe" /verysilent && rmdir /s /q "C:\Program Files\R\R-3.4.2"
"C:\Program Files\R\R-3.5.2\unins000.exe" /verysilent && rmdir /s /q "C:\Program Files\R\R-3.5.2"
exit /b

Let me know if you run into any issues. When I was testing this I found the uninstaller left the empty “R-version” folder behind, so I had to add the rmdir command also for a clean uninstall.

I was thinking that it might be also handy to mod this to leave the “newest” installation alone. If that would be useful, we can look into that also.

2 Likes
7

Sean… That is perfect! Thank you! your suggestion of leaving the latest would also be a good idea if you have the time/inclination :slight_smile:

8

OK Pete, assuming that R continues to use the same naming convention, these modifications should leave the newest install alone.

parameter "NewestInstall" = "{maximum of it of (parenthesized parts 1 of (matches (case insensitive regex "R-(.*)$") of unique values of pathnames of folders of folder "R" of program files x64 folder) as version)}"

parameter "TempScript" = "{value of variable "Temp" of environment}\R-BeGone.bat"
appendfile {concatenation "%0d%0a" of (("%22" & it & "\unins000.exe%22 /verysilent && rmdir /s /q %22" & it & "%22") of unique values of pathnames whose (it does not end with parameter "NewestInstall") of folders of folder "R" of program files x64 folder)}
appendfile exit /b
delete "{parameter "TempScript"}"
move __appendfile "{parameter "TempScript"}"
waithidden "{parameter "TempScript"}"
delete "{parameter "TempScript"}"

Now this does require iterating over the folder structure twice, which is not ideal, but I don’t think it results in a significant performance penalty. If someone doesn’t come up with a more elegant solution this should get the job done.