Is there a way to programmatically find the path of an R script inside the script itself?
I am asking this because I have several scripts that use RGtk2 and load a GUI from a .glade file.
In these scripts I am obliged to put a setwd("path/to/the/script") instruction at the beginning, otherwise the .glade file (which is in the same directory) will not be found.
This is fine, but if I move the script in a different directory or to another computer I have to change the path. I know, it's not a big deal, but it would be nice to have something like:
setwd(getScriptPath())
So, does a similar function exist?
This works for me:
getSrcDirectory(function(x) {x})
This defines an anonymous function (that does nothing) inside the script, and then determines the source directory of that function, which is the directory where the script is.
For RStudio only:
setwd(dirname(rstudioapi::getActiveDocumentContext()$path))
This works when Running or Sourceing your file.
Use source("yourfile.R", chdir = T)
Exploit the implicit "--file" argument of Rscript
When calling the script using "Rscript" (Rscript doc) the full path of the script is given as a system parameter. The following function exploits this to extract the script directory:
getScriptPath <- function(){
cmd.args <- commandArgs()
m <- regexpr("(?<=^--file=).+", cmd.args, perl=TRUE)
script.dir <- dirname(regmatches(cmd.args, m))
if(length(script.dir) == 0) stop("can't determine script dir: please call the script with Rscript")
if(length(script.dir) > 1) stop("can't determine script dir: more than one '--file' argument detected")
return(script.dir)
}
If you wrap your code in a package, you can always query parts of the package directory.
Here is an example from the RGtk2 package:
> system.file("ui", "demo.ui", package="RGtk2")
[1] "C:/opt/R/library/RGtk2/ui/demo.ui"
>
You can do the same with a directory inst/glade/ in your sources which will become a directory glade/ in the installed package -- and system.file() will compute the path for you when installed, irrespective of the OS.
This answer works fine to me:
script.dir <- dirname(sys.frame(1)$ofile)
Note: script must be sourced in order to return correct path
I found it in: https://support.rstudio.com/hc/communities/public/questions/200895567-can-user-obtain-the-path-of-current-Project-s-directory-
But I still don´t understand what is sys.frame(1)$ofile. I didn´t find anything about that in R Documentation. Someone can explain it?
#' current script dir
#' #param
#' #return
#' #examples
#' works with source() or in RStudio Run selection
#' #export
z.csd <- function() {
# http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1815606/rscript-determine-path-of-the-executing-script
# must work with source()
if (!is.null(res <- .thisfile_source())) res
else if (!is.null(res <- .thisfile_rscript())) dirname(res)
# http://stackoverflow.com/a/35842176/2292993
# RStudio only, can work without source()
else dirname(rstudioapi::getActiveDocumentContext()$path)
}
# Helper functions
.thisfile_source <- function() {
for (i in -(1:sys.nframe())) {
if (identical(sys.function(i), base::source))
return (normalizePath(sys.frame(i)$ofile))
}
NULL
}
.thisfile_rscript <- function() {
cmdArgs <- commandArgs(trailingOnly = FALSE)
cmdArgsTrailing <- commandArgs(trailingOnly = TRUE)
cmdArgs <- cmdArgs[seq.int(from=1, length.out=length(cmdArgs) - length(cmdArgsTrailing))]
res <- gsub("^(?:--file=(.*)|.*)$", "\\1", cmdArgs)
# If multiple --file arguments are given, R uses the last one
res <- tail(res[res != ""], 1)
if (length(res) > 0)
return (res)
NULL
}
A lot of these solutions are several years old. While some may still work, there are good reasons against utilizing each of them (see linked source below). I have the best solution (also from source): use the here library.
Original example code:
library(ggplot2)
setwd("/Users/jenny/cuddly_broccoli/verbose_funicular/foofy/data")
df <- read.delim("raw_foofy_data.csv")
Revised code
library(ggplot2)
library(here)
df <- read.delim(here("data", "raw_foofy_data.csv"))
This solution is the most dynamic and robust because it works regardless of whether you are using the command line, RStudio, calling from an R script, etc. It is also extremely simple to use and is succinct.
Source: https://www.tidyverse.org/articles/2017/12/workflow-vs-script/
I have found something that works for me.
setwd(dirname(rstudioapi::getActiveDocumentContext()$path))
How about using system and shell commands? With the windows one, I think when you open the script in RStudio it sets the current shell directory to the directory of the script. You might have to add cd C:\ e.g or whatever drive you want to search (e.g. shell('dir C:\\*file_name /s', intern = TRUE) - \\ to escape escape character). Will only work for uniquely named files unless you further specify subdirectories (for Linux I started searching from /). In any case, if you know how to find something in the shell, this provides a layout to find it within R and return the directory. Should work whether you are sourcing or running the script but I haven't fully explored the potential bugs.
#Get operating system
OS<-Sys.info()
win<-length(grep("Windows",OS))
lin<-length(grep("Linux",OS))
#Find path of data directory
#Linux Bash Commands
if(lin==1){
file_path<-system("find / -name 'file_name'", intern = TRUE)
data_directory<-gsub('/file_name',"",file_path)
}
#Windows Command Prompt Commands
if(win==1){
file_path<-shell('dir file_name /s', intern = TRUE)
file_path<-file_path[4]
file_path<-gsub(" Directory of ","",file_path)
filepath<-gsub("\\\\","/",file_path)
data_directory<-file_path
}
#Change working directory to location of data and sources
setwd(data_directory)
Thank you for the function, though I had to adjust it a Little as following for me (W10):
#Windows Command Prompt Commands
if(win==1){
file_path<-shell('dir file_name', intern = TRUE)
file_path<-file_path[4]
file_path<-gsub(" Verzeichnis von ","",file_path)
file_path<-chartr("\\","/",file_path)
data_directory<-file_path
}
In my case, I needed a way to copy the executing file to back up the original script together with its outputs. This is relatively important in research. What worked for me while running my script on the command line, was a mixure of other solutions presented here, that looks like this:
library(scriptName)
file_dir <- gsub("\\", "/", fileSnapshot()$path, fixed=TRUE)
file.copy(from = file.path(file_dir, scriptName::current_filename()) ,
to = file.path(new_dir, scriptName::current_filename()))
Alternatively, one can add to the file name the date and our to help in distinguishing that file from the source like this:
file.copy(from = file.path(current_dir, current_filename()) ,
to = file.path(new_dir, subDir, paste0(current_filename(),"_", Sys.time(), ".R")))
None of the solutions given so far work in all circumstances. Worse, many solutions use setwd, and thus break code that expects the working directory to be, well, the working directory — i.e. the code that the user of the code chose (I realise that the question asks about setwd() but this doesn’t change the fact that this is generally a bad idea).
R simply has no built-in way to determine the path of the currently running piece of code.
A clean solution requires a systematic way of managing non-package code. That’s what ‘box’ does. With ‘box’, the directory relative to the currently executing code can be found trivially:
box::file()
However, that isn’t the purpose of ‘box’; it’s just a side-effect of what it actually does: it implements a proper, modern module system for R. This includes organising code in (nested) modules, and hence the ability to load code from modules relative to the currently running code.
To load code with ‘box’ you wouldn’t use e.g. source(file.path(box::file(), 'foo.r')). Instead, you’d use
box::use(./foo)
However, box::file() is still useful for locating data (i.e. OP’s use-case). So, for instance, to locate a file mygui.glade from the current module’s path, you would write.
glade_path = box::file('mygui.glade')
And (as long as you’re using ‘box’ modules) this always works, doesn’t require any hacks, and doesn’t use setwd.
Related
Criteria for answer to this question
Given the following function (within its own script)
# something.R
hello <- function(x){
paste0("hello ", x)
}
What is the most minimal amount of setup which will enable the following
library(something)
x <- something::hello('Sue')
# x now has value: "hello Sue"
Context
In python it's very simple to have a directory containing some code, and utilise it as
# here foo is a directory
from foo import bar
bar( ... )
I'm not sure how to do something similar in R though.
I'm aware there's source(file.R), but this puts everything into the global namespace. I'm also aware that there's library(package) which provides package::function. What I'm not sure about is whether there's a simple approach to using this namespacing within R. The packaging tutorials that I've searched for seem to be quite involved (in comparison to Python).
I don't know if there is a real benefit in creating a namespace just for one quick function. It is just not the way it is supposed to be (I think).
But anyway here is a rather minimalistic solution:
First install once: install.packages("namespace")
The function you wanted to call in the namespace:
hello <- function(x){
paste0("hello ", x)
}
Creating your namespace, assigning the function and exporting
ns <- namespace::makeNamespace("newspace")
assign("hello",hello ,env = ns)
base::namespaceExport(ns, ls(ns))
Now you can call your function with your new namespace
newspace::hello("you")
Here's the quickest workflow I know to produce a package, using RStudio. The default package already contains a hello function, that I overwrote with your code.
Notice there was also a box "create package based on source files", which I didn't use but you might.
A package done this way will contain exported undocumented untested functions.
If you want to learn how to document, export or not, write tests and run checks, include other objects than functions, include compiled code, share on github, share on CRAN.. This book describes the workflow used by thousands of users, and is designed so you can usually read sections independently.
If you don't want to do it from GUI you can useutils::package.skeleton() to build a package folder, and remotes::install_local() to install it :
Reproducible setup
# create a file containing function definition
# where your current function is located
function_path <- tempfile(fileext = ".R")
cat('
hello <- function(x){
paste0("hello ", x)
}
', file = function_path)
# where you store your package code
package_path <- tempdir()
Solution :
# create package directory at given location
package.skeleton("something", code_file = file_path, path = package_path)
# remove sample doc to make remotes::install_local happy
unlink(file.path(package_path, "something", "man/"), TRUE)
# install package
remotes::install_local(file.path(package_path, "something"))
What are the workarounds on Windows to make it so Sys.which finds the proper executables? Two cases that are reoccuring problems:
convert.exe which is both a windows program and the ImageMagik program, but Sys.which only finds the windows one which is never wanted from R no matter how I seem to arrange things on my PATH.
tar.exe is packaged along with various things like git or mingw or whatever, and even when I have Rtools and Rbuildtools first in my path, the tar program from Rtools is never found, for example when installing a package from source.
So, I have resorted to writing a wrapper that calls 7-zip instead whenever I am on windows. This can't be the thing to do can it?
Edit
Actually just adding an environment variable to .Renviron: TAR=path/to/tar.exe works fine for the install.packages example, and I am having trouble remembering where else the tar.exe was biting me, but Josh answered the main one, convert.exe.
I asked a +/- identical question earlier this year over on R-devel. Among the replies was this one, by Henrik Bengtsson, who kindly provided the following useful function:
Sys.which2 <- function(cmd) {
stopifnot(length(cmd) == 1)
if (.Platform$OS.type == "windows") {
suppressWarnings({
pathname <- shell(sprintf("where %s 2> NUL", cmd), intern=TRUE)[1]
})
if (!is.na(pathname)) return(setNames(pathname, cmd))
}
Sys.which(cmd)
}
## Trying out Sys.which & Sys.which2 on my Windows box gives the following:
Sys.which("convert")
# convert
# "C:\\Windows\\system32\\convert.exe"
Sys.which2("convert")
# convert
# "C:\\Program Files\\ImageMagick-6.8.8-Q16\\convert.exe"
I'm really not sure why R-core don't just fix Sys.which() to make it actually portable, but they at least do document root cause of this behavior in ?system (whose functionality is afflicted by the same problem):
The search path for 'command' may be system-dependent: it will
include the R 'bin' directory, the working directory and the
Windows system directories before 'PATH'.
Because Sys.which() is vectorized–and since I think that is useful–I've modified the Henrik Bengtsson code in the following function sys_which(), which should be a more robust and more similar version of Sys.which():
## check if unix
is_unix <- function() grepl("unix", .Platform$OS.type, ignore.case = TRUE)
## robust version of Sys.which
sys_which <- function(x) {
if (is_unix()) {
return(Sys.which(x))
}
sys_win <- function(x) {
if (grepl("\\S", path <- Sys.which(x))) {
return(path)
}
path <- tryCatch(
suppressWarnings(system(sprintf("where %s", x), intern = TRUE)[1]),
warning = function(w) "",
error = function(e) "")
if (!grepl("\\S", path)) {
return(`names<-`("", x))
}
`names<-`(path, x)
}
vapply(x, sys_win, character(1))
}
This has the following advantages:
It's vectorized–sys_which() can handle a vector (one or more input values) e.g., sys_which(c("python", "python3"))
It's more error resistant–use of tryCatch(...) ensures any inputs that result in an error from the system call get passed on to the normal Sys.which() function.
Example:
> sys_which(c("python", "python2.7", "python3", "asdf"))
#> python python2.7 python3 asdf
#> "/usr/bin/python" "/usr/bin/python2.7" "/usr/local/bin/python3" ""
EDIT:
Is it possible that ~/.Rprofile is not loaded on within check(). It looks like my whole process fails since the ~/.Rprofile is not loaded.
DONE EDIT
I have a strange problem on automated testing with testthat. Actually, when I test my package with test() everything works fine. But when I test with check() I get an error message.
The error message says:
1. Failure (at test_DML_create_folder_start_MQ_script.R#43): DML create folder start MQ Script works with "../DML_IC_MQ_DATA/dummy_data" data
capture.output(messages <- source(basename(script_file))) threw an error
Error in sprintf("%s folder got created for each raw file.", subfolder_prefix) :
object 'subfolder_prefix' not found
Before this error I source a script which defines the subfolder_prefix variable and I guess this is why it works in the test() case. But I expected to get this running in the check() function as well.
I will post the complete test script here, hope it is not to complicated:
library(testthat)
context("testing DML create folder and start MQ script")
test_dir <- 'dml_ic_mq_test'
start_dir <- getwd()
# list of test file folders
data_folders <- list.dirs('../DML_IC_MQ_DATA', recursive=FALSE)
for(folder in data_folders) { # for each folder with test files
dir.create(test_dir)
setwd(test_dir)
script_file <- a.DML_prepare_IC.script(dbg_level=Inf) # returns filename I will source
test_that(sprintf('we could copy all files from "%s".',
folder), {
expect_that(
all(file.copy(list.files(file.path('..',folder), full.names=TRUE),
'.',
recursive=TRUE)),
is_true())
})
test_that(sprintf('DML create folder start MQ Script works with "%s" data', folder), {
expect_that(capture.output(messages <- source(basename(script_file))),
not(throws_error()))
})
count_rawfiles <- length(list.files(pattern='.raw$'))
created_folders <- list.dirs(recursive=FALSE)
test_that(sprintf('%s folder got created for each raw file.',
subfolder_prefix), {
expect_equal(length(grep(subfolder_prefix, created_folders)),
count_rawfiles)
})
setwd(start_dir)
unlink(test_dir, recursive=TRUE)
}
In my script I define the variable subfolder_prefix <- 'IC_' and within the test I check if the same number of folders are created for each raw file... This is what my script should do...
So as I said, I am not sure how to debug this problem here since test() works but check() fails during the testthat run.
Now that I know to look in devtools we can find the answer. Per the docs check "automatically builds and checks a source package, using all known best practices". That includes ignoring .Rprofile. It looks like check calls build and that all of that work is done is a separate (clean) R session. In contrast test appears to use your currently running session (in a new environment).
I want to create a zip file called "out" not "out.zip". When I run this line:
zip("out", zippedfiles)
where zippedfiles is a list of files, I get out.zip. I am doing this in a Windows environment.
Thanks.
Several people have mentioned that this is the behaviour of zip, but not why this is the cause of what you are seeing. If you look at the source for zip() or even the help ?zip, it should be immediately clear that the behaviour you are seeing comes from the system zip function and nothing to do with R itself. All R does is call the system function for zipping, which by default is zip:
R> zip
function (zipfile, files, flags = "-r9X", extras = "", zip = Sys.getenv("R_ZIPCMD",
"zip"))
{
if (missing(flags) && (!is.character(files) || !length(files)))
stop("'files' must a character vector specifying one or more filepaths")
args <- c(flags, shQuote(path.expand(zipfile)), shQuote(files),
extras)
invisible(system2(zip, args, invisible = TRUE)) ## simply calling system command
}
<bytecode: 0x27faf30>
<environment: namespace:utils>
If you are annoyed by the extension, just issue a file.rename() call after the call to zip():
file.rename("out.zip", "out")
For me, no extension is used if I append . (i.e. a period) to the filename, e.g. out. should work. The full expression: zip("out.", zippedfiles).
For what it's worth, this is due to the default behavior of zip, and is not an issue with R or Windows.
Update 1: In general, it is better to avoid an approach that is OS-specific. I think this approach may create issues if the code is run on other platforms. Gavin's answer, involving renaming, is more portable. What's more, as I suggested in the comments, testing if the target exists using file.exists(), before renaming, adds another layer of safety. An additional layer of safety is obtained by getting a temporary filename via tempfile(). An alternative method of avoiding name collisions when writing or renaming is to use a timestamp in the name.
Is there a way to programmatically find the path of an R script inside the script itself?
I am asking this because I have several scripts that use RGtk2 and load a GUI from a .glade file.
In these scripts I am obliged to put a setwd("path/to/the/script") instruction at the beginning, otherwise the .glade file (which is in the same directory) will not be found.
This is fine, but if I move the script in a different directory or to another computer I have to change the path. I know, it's not a big deal, but it would be nice to have something like:
setwd(getScriptPath())
So, does a similar function exist?
This works for me:
getSrcDirectory(function(x) {x})
This defines an anonymous function (that does nothing) inside the script, and then determines the source directory of that function, which is the directory where the script is.
For RStudio only:
setwd(dirname(rstudioapi::getActiveDocumentContext()$path))
This works when Running or Sourceing your file.
Use source("yourfile.R", chdir = T)
Exploit the implicit "--file" argument of Rscript
When calling the script using "Rscript" (Rscript doc) the full path of the script is given as a system parameter. The following function exploits this to extract the script directory:
getScriptPath <- function(){
cmd.args <- commandArgs()
m <- regexpr("(?<=^--file=).+", cmd.args, perl=TRUE)
script.dir <- dirname(regmatches(cmd.args, m))
if(length(script.dir) == 0) stop("can't determine script dir: please call the script with Rscript")
if(length(script.dir) > 1) stop("can't determine script dir: more than one '--file' argument detected")
return(script.dir)
}
If you wrap your code in a package, you can always query parts of the package directory.
Here is an example from the RGtk2 package:
> system.file("ui", "demo.ui", package="RGtk2")
[1] "C:/opt/R/library/RGtk2/ui/demo.ui"
>
You can do the same with a directory inst/glade/ in your sources which will become a directory glade/ in the installed package -- and system.file() will compute the path for you when installed, irrespective of the OS.
This answer works fine to me:
script.dir <- dirname(sys.frame(1)$ofile)
Note: script must be sourced in order to return correct path
I found it in: https://support.rstudio.com/hc/communities/public/questions/200895567-can-user-obtain-the-path-of-current-Project-s-directory-
But I still don´t understand what is sys.frame(1)$ofile. I didn´t find anything about that in R Documentation. Someone can explain it?
#' current script dir
#' #param
#' #return
#' #examples
#' works with source() or in RStudio Run selection
#' #export
z.csd <- function() {
# http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1815606/rscript-determine-path-of-the-executing-script
# must work with source()
if (!is.null(res <- .thisfile_source())) res
else if (!is.null(res <- .thisfile_rscript())) dirname(res)
# http://stackoverflow.com/a/35842176/2292993
# RStudio only, can work without source()
else dirname(rstudioapi::getActiveDocumentContext()$path)
}
# Helper functions
.thisfile_source <- function() {
for (i in -(1:sys.nframe())) {
if (identical(sys.function(i), base::source))
return (normalizePath(sys.frame(i)$ofile))
}
NULL
}
.thisfile_rscript <- function() {
cmdArgs <- commandArgs(trailingOnly = FALSE)
cmdArgsTrailing <- commandArgs(trailingOnly = TRUE)
cmdArgs <- cmdArgs[seq.int(from=1, length.out=length(cmdArgs) - length(cmdArgsTrailing))]
res <- gsub("^(?:--file=(.*)|.*)$", "\\1", cmdArgs)
# If multiple --file arguments are given, R uses the last one
res <- tail(res[res != ""], 1)
if (length(res) > 0)
return (res)
NULL
}
A lot of these solutions are several years old. While some may still work, there are good reasons against utilizing each of them (see linked source below). I have the best solution (also from source): use the here library.
Original example code:
library(ggplot2)
setwd("/Users/jenny/cuddly_broccoli/verbose_funicular/foofy/data")
df <- read.delim("raw_foofy_data.csv")
Revised code
library(ggplot2)
library(here)
df <- read.delim(here("data", "raw_foofy_data.csv"))
This solution is the most dynamic and robust because it works regardless of whether you are using the command line, RStudio, calling from an R script, etc. It is also extremely simple to use and is succinct.
Source: https://www.tidyverse.org/articles/2017/12/workflow-vs-script/
I have found something that works for me.
setwd(dirname(rstudioapi::getActiveDocumentContext()$path))
How about using system and shell commands? With the windows one, I think when you open the script in RStudio it sets the current shell directory to the directory of the script. You might have to add cd C:\ e.g or whatever drive you want to search (e.g. shell('dir C:\\*file_name /s', intern = TRUE) - \\ to escape escape character). Will only work for uniquely named files unless you further specify subdirectories (for Linux I started searching from /). In any case, if you know how to find something in the shell, this provides a layout to find it within R and return the directory. Should work whether you are sourcing or running the script but I haven't fully explored the potential bugs.
#Get operating system
OS<-Sys.info()
win<-length(grep("Windows",OS))
lin<-length(grep("Linux",OS))
#Find path of data directory
#Linux Bash Commands
if(lin==1){
file_path<-system("find / -name 'file_name'", intern = TRUE)
data_directory<-gsub('/file_name',"",file_path)
}
#Windows Command Prompt Commands
if(win==1){
file_path<-shell('dir file_name /s', intern = TRUE)
file_path<-file_path[4]
file_path<-gsub(" Directory of ","",file_path)
filepath<-gsub("\\\\","/",file_path)
data_directory<-file_path
}
#Change working directory to location of data and sources
setwd(data_directory)
Thank you for the function, though I had to adjust it a Little as following for me (W10):
#Windows Command Prompt Commands
if(win==1){
file_path<-shell('dir file_name', intern = TRUE)
file_path<-file_path[4]
file_path<-gsub(" Verzeichnis von ","",file_path)
file_path<-chartr("\\","/",file_path)
data_directory<-file_path
}
In my case, I needed a way to copy the executing file to back up the original script together with its outputs. This is relatively important in research. What worked for me while running my script on the command line, was a mixure of other solutions presented here, that looks like this:
library(scriptName)
file_dir <- gsub("\\", "/", fileSnapshot()$path, fixed=TRUE)
file.copy(from = file.path(file_dir, scriptName::current_filename()) ,
to = file.path(new_dir, scriptName::current_filename()))
Alternatively, one can add to the file name the date and our to help in distinguishing that file from the source like this:
file.copy(from = file.path(current_dir, current_filename()) ,
to = file.path(new_dir, subDir, paste0(current_filename(),"_", Sys.time(), ".R")))
None of the solutions given so far work in all circumstances. Worse, many solutions use setwd, and thus break code that expects the working directory to be, well, the working directory — i.e. the code that the user of the code chose (I realise that the question asks about setwd() but this doesn’t change the fact that this is generally a bad idea).
R simply has no built-in way to determine the path of the currently running piece of code.
A clean solution requires a systematic way of managing non-package code. That’s what ‘box’ does. With ‘box’, the directory relative to the currently executing code can be found trivially:
box::file()
However, that isn’t the purpose of ‘box’; it’s just a side-effect of what it actually does: it implements a proper, modern module system for R. This includes organising code in (nested) modules, and hence the ability to load code from modules relative to the currently running code.
To load code with ‘box’ you wouldn’t use e.g. source(file.path(box::file(), 'foo.r')). Instead, you’d use
box::use(./foo)
However, box::file() is still useful for locating data (i.e. OP’s use-case). So, for instance, to locate a file mygui.glade from the current module’s path, you would write.
glade_path = box::file('mygui.glade')
And (as long as you’re using ‘box’ modules) this always works, doesn’t require any hacks, and doesn’t use setwd.