[R] Genuine relative paths with R

Eik Vettorazzi
Mon, 08 Oct 2018 11:30:43 -0000

Dear Olivier,
you may find the rprojroot package useful, see
https://github.com/r-lib/rprojroot

and a discussion

https://gist.github.com/jennybc/362f52446fe1ebc4c49f#file-2014-10-12_stop-working-directory-insanity-md

Cheers

Am 06.10.2018 um 13:48 schrieb Olivier GIVAUDAN:
> Dear R users,
>
> I would like to work with genuine relative paths in R for obvious reasons:
if I move all my scripts related to some project as a whole to another location
of my computer or someone else's computer, if want my scripts to continue to
run seamlessly.
>
> What I mean by "genuine" is that it should not be necessary to
hardcode one single absolute path (making the code obviously not
"portable" - to another place - anymore).
>
> For the time being, I found the following related posts, unfortunately
never conclusive or even somewhat off-topic:
>
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1815606/rscript-determine-path-of-the-executing-script
>
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47044068/get-the-path-of-current-script/47045368
>
http://r.789695.n4.nabble.com/Script-auto-detecting-its-own-path-td2719676.html
>
> So I found 2 workarounds, more or less satisfactory:
>
>
>    1.  Either create a variable "ScriptPath" in the first lines
of each of my R scripts and run a batch (or shell, etc.) to replace every single
occurrence of "ScriptPath <-" by "ScriptPath <- [Absolute
path of the R script]" in all the R scripts located in the folder (and
possibly subfolders) of the batch file.
>    2.  Or create an R project file with RStudio and use the package
"here" to get the absolute path of the R project file and put all the
R scripts related to this project in the R project directory, as often
recommended.
>
> But I am really wondering why R doesn't have (please tell me if I'm
wrong) this basic feature as many other languages have it (batch, shell, C,
LaTeX, SAS with macro-variables, etc.)?
> Do you know whether the language will have this kind of function in a near
future? What are the obstacles / what is the reasoning for not having it
already?
>
> Do you know other workarounds?
>
> Best regards,
>
> Olivier
>
> 	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> PLEASE do read the posting guide
http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
>

--
Eik Vettorazzi

Department of Medical Biometry and Epidemiology
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf

Martinistrasse 52
building W 34
20246 Hamburg

Phone: +49 (0) 40 7410 - 58243
Fax:   +49 (0) 40 7410 - 57790
Web: www.uke.de/imbe
--

_____________________________________________________________________

Universit?tsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf; K?rperschaft des ?ffentlichen Rechts;
Gerichtsstand: Hamburg | www.uke.de
Vorstandsmitglieder: Prof. Dr. Burkhard G?ke (Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr. Dr. Uwe
Koch-Gromus, Joachim Pr?l?, Martina Saurin (komm.)
_____________________________________________________________________

SAVE PAPER - THINK BEFORE PRINTING