R help - May 2017 - loading edited functions already in saved workspace automatically

Hi,

In short: Is it possible to have the previously saved workspace restored
and nevertheless load a function already existing in this workspace via
.Rprofile anyway?

In detail: I use different directories for different projects. In all
those projects I use a function which I therefore try to get into the
session by `myfunc=eval(parse(file=("~/R/myfunc.R")))' in
~/.Rprofile.
Once I leave the session thereby saving the workspace this function gets
saved in ./.RData as well. In a subsequent session in that directory it
gets loaded back. However, in the meantime I might have edited
~/R/myfunc.R. I don't seem to be able to automatically load the new
function into the session. The workspace gets loaded *after* the
execution of ~/.Rprofile. So the new definition of myfunc() gets
overwritten by the old one. I can't use .First() ? which is executed
after loading the workspace ? because this would load myfunc() into the
environment of .First() instead of the global environment. I could use
.Last() to remove the function before saving the workspace. But then
.Last() gets saved to the workspace which is also not convenient since
when I add another function the same way and edit the definition of
.Last() in ~/.Rprofile to also remove that function this does not work
because I don't get the new .Last() into the session automatically. And
no, removing .Last() from within .Last() doesn't work.

The answer most people seem to use is to avoid depending on functions in RData
files, and in particular avoiding ever saving the "automatic"
".RData" files at all. (Some people avoid using any RData files, but
the automatic loading of functions by ".RData" files is a particularly
pernicious source of evil as you have already discovered.)

That is,  always work toward building scripts that you run to restore your
workspace rather than depending on save files. Don't depend on save files to
keep track of what you do interactively. This also usually means that there
should be little if anything in your .Rprofile because that tends to build
non-reproducibility into your scripts.
-- 
Sent from my phone. Please excuse my brevity.

On May 5, 2017 1:33:27 AM PDT, Ralf Goertz <r_goertz at web.de>
wrote:
>Hi,
>
>In short: Is it possible to have the previously saved workspace
>restored
>and nevertheless load a function already existing in this workspace via
>.Rprofile anyway?
>
>In detail: I use different directories for different projects. In all
>those projects I use a function which I therefore try to get into the
>session by `myfunc=eval(parse(file=("~/R/myfunc.R")))' in
~/.Rprofile.
>Once I leave the session thereby saving the workspace this function
>gets
>saved in ./.RData as well. In a subsequent session in that directory it
>gets loaded back. However, in the meantime I might have edited
>~/R/myfunc.R. I don't seem to be able to automatically load the new
>function into the session. The workspace gets loaded *after* the
>execution of ~/.Rprofile. So the new definition of myfunc() gets
>overwritten by the old one. I can't use .First() ? which is executed
>after loading the workspace ? because this would load myfunc() into the
>environment of .First() instead of the global environment. I could use
>.Last() to remove the function before saving the workspace. But then
>.Last() gets saved to the workspace which is also not convenient since
>when I add another function the same way and edit the definition of
>.Last() in ~/.Rprofile to also remove that function this does not work
>because I don't get the new .Last() into the session automatically. And
>no, removing .Last() from within .Last() doesn't work.
>
>______________________________________________
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>and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.

Am Fri, 05 May 2017 06:30:01 -0700
schrieb Jeff Newmiller <jdnewmil at dcn.davis.ca.us>:
> The answer most people seem to use is to avoid depending on functions
> in RData files, and in particular avoiding ever saving the
> "automatic" ".RData" files at all. (Some people avoid
using any RData
> files, but the automatic loading of functions by ".RData" files
is a
> particularly pernicious source of evil as you have already
> discovered.)
> 
> That is,  always work toward building scripts that you run to restore
> your workspace rather than depending on save files. Don't depend on
> save files to keep track of what you do interactively. This also
> usually means that there should be little if anything in
> your .Rprofile because that tends to build non-reproducibility into
> your scripts.
Hi Jeff,

thanks for your answer. Actually, I don't use the workspace saving
feature primarily for the data but for the command line history. Is
there a way to just save .Rhistory?

Ralf