[R] Can't there be a cd command?

[Joerg van den Hoff]

Issac Trotts wrote:
> On 5/9/06, Prof Brian Ripley <ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk> wrote:
>> On Wed, 10 May 2006, Peter Dalgaard wrote:
>>
>>> "Issac Trotts" <issac.trotts at gmail.com> writes:
>>>
>>>> I'm on Linux, so it didn't occur to me to look in the Windows FAQ
>>>> until it came up in the Google search.  Why should Windows users be
>>>> the only ones who learn how to change directories?
>>> Well, on Linux et al., the normal mode of operation is to start R from
>>> the commmand line in the directory where you want to be. On Windows
>>> you start from a desktop icon or a menu entry, which implies that
>>> you're always in the same directory, and usually the wrong one.
>> Exactly.  I don't think I have ever used setwd() on Linux.
>>
>> Also, I have never seen this asked before for a Unix-alike, so it seems
>> not to be a >F<AQ.  There is a common tendency for users who run into a
>> problem to think everyone does too, and it isn't necessarily so.
>>
>> Frequently asked questions do make it to the FAQs: it is a defence
>> mechanism for the volunteers supporting R.
>>
>> help.search("directory")  gets you there.
> 
> OK, good to know.  Thanks for helping.
> 
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probably this has used up sufficient disk space in the mail archive
already, but anyway a bit of support  to the initial request: one of the
very first things I did, when I started using R, was adding

cd <- setwd
pwd <- getwd

to my .Rprofile. and when I encouraged colleagues to try R out, the 'top
three' questions where

"how can I get out? I tried ^C, exit(), quit(), but nothing works"
"how can I change the directory? `cd' does'nt work"
"where am I? `pwd' does'nt work" (`pwd' is something like a 'local
speciality', I presume...)

this is of course a marginal obstacle for new users, but avoidable all
the same. (and maybe most people (like myself) in the first place don't
think it important enough to post it -- maybe it _would_ be in the FAQ
otherwise...)

so, _if_ 'cd' would be recognized in future releases, it would'nt do any
harm, would it?


joerg