API should not use /var/root on OS X

[brianboonstra]

The API attempts to store credentials in /var/root, at least on my OS X Yosemite installation via MacPorts. This (rightly) fails due to permission problems.

Traditionally on OS X this type of thing is stored in something like $HOME/Library/Preferences/com.plotly.plist. Python probably has a good defaults module for it.

[chriddyp]

Yikes! Thanks for reporting. We were supposed to install it your home directory, ~, which used to be something like /Users/chris: https://github.com/ropensci/plotly/blob/master/R/tools.R#L4.

Where does $ cd ~ take you?

cc @theengineear

[brianboonstra]

cd ~ takes me to /Users/brian. Please note I got mixed up about Python/Macports being involved. The issue is specific to the R API, and occurs whether I am running normally in RStudio or I am using an R kernel within iPython/Jupyter v3.0.0. R was installed via downloading the dmg from CRAN, not via Macports.

Is it perhaps related to the fact that I was running an R session as root when I did the install_github("ropensci/plotly") ?

[brianboonstra]

Perhaps directory expansion does not work as expected during package load? Here is a direct transcript:

> py <- plotly('brianboonstra',  '<deleted>')
Error in if (file.info(CONFIG_FILE)$size) { : 
  argument is not interpretable as logical
In addition: Warning message:
In file.create(abspath) :
  cannot create file '/var/root/.plotly/.config', reason 'Permission denied'
> file.path(path.expand("~"), ".plotly")
[1] "/Users/brian/.plotly"

[bogdanrau]

Any updates to this? I'm running into the same issue on a Ubuntu 14.04 box, my path is:

[1] "Your credentials file:"
Error in if (file.info(CREDENTIALS_FILE)$size) { : 
  argument is not interpretable as logical
In addition: Warning message:
In file.create(abspath) :
  cannot create file '/root/.plotly/.credentials', reason 'Permission denied'
> file.path(path.expand("~"), ".plotly")
[1] "/home/[user]/.plotly"

with [user] being a specific username on the system. I should mention that I also installed this as ROOT, though it seems like it's trying to create the credentials file in the correct folder.

[Varshul]

Even I installed it as a root user, doesn't seem to work at all.
Warning in file.create(abspath) :
cannot create file '/root/.plotly/.credentials', reason 'Permission denied'
Error in if (file.info(CREDENTIALS_FILE)$size) { :
argument is not interpretable as logical

Even Though the CREDENTIALS_FILE does exist having non logical size, it doesn't seem to work.

Is there any solution to it ?

[cpsievert]

Version 1.0 no longer requires credentials to be stored in this location. Instead, you can store credentials with:

Sys.setenv("plotly_username"="your_plotly_username")
Sys.setenv("plotly_api_key"="your_api_key")

If you want these credentials to be loaded on startup, put this code in your ~/.Rprofile