Error: vector memory exhausted (limit reached?) R 3.5.0 macOS

Question

I\'ve been working for a while with a number of large files containing gene expression data, and I\'ve recently run into an issue with loading that data into R, after upgrad

Answer 1

For those using Rstudio, I've found that setting Sys.setenv('R_MAX_VSIZE'=32000000000) only works on the command line, and that setting that parameter while using Rstudio does not prevent this error:

Error: vector memory exhausted (limit reached?)

After doing some more reading, I found this thread, which clarifies the problem with Rstudio, and identifies a solution, shown below:

Step 1: Open terminal,

Step 2:

cd ~
touch .Renviron
open .Renviron

Step 3: Save the following as the first line of .Renviron:

R_MAX_VSIZE=100Gb 

Note: This limit includes both physical and virtual memory; so setting _MAX_VSIZE=16Gb on a machine with 16Gb of physical memory may not prevent this error. You may have to play with this parameter, depending on the specs of your machine