passing directory name as a parameter - r

Question

My current directory is c:/users/akshay/Documents
But all my data is in the directory "specdata" whose path address is c:/users/akshay/Documents/specdata
when i type these commands separately in console it works successfully.
path <- "C:/Users/akshay/Documents"
directory <- "specdata"
setwd(paste(path, directory, sep="/", collapse=NULL))
But when i use it in function like this it wont change my working directory.
pollutantmean <- function(directory){
directory <- character(1)
path <- character(1)
path <- "C:/Users/akshay/Documents"
setwd(paste(path, directory, sep="/", collapse=NULL))
}
But when i pass
>pollutantmean("specdata")
It wont change my working directory why is it so?
what is the problem?

Answer 1

Maybe try returning the paste. Also, you don't need the character() functions.
pollutantmean <- function(directory){
path <- "C:/Users/akshay/Documents"
return(paste(path, directory, sep="/", collapse=NULL))
}
pollutantmean("specdata")
Output:
> pollutantmean("test")
[1] "C:/Users/akshay/Documents/test"
Change directory:
pollutantmean<-function(directory){ + path<-"C:/Users/akshay/Documents" + setwd(paste(path,directory,sep="/",collapse=NULL)) + }