[R] Is there a way to source from a specific Git repository without hardcoding the location everywhere?

[Duncan Murdoch]

On 12-09-26 8:25 PM, Curt Seeliger wrote:
> Folks,
>
> A small group of us are working together to develop a set of R functions
> to support data management and analysis using Eclipse/StatET in a Windows
> environment.  We are using Git/EGit for version control. We work within
> our own repository and occasionally push to a common remote location.
>
> I'd like to have the code source files from the 'local' git repository
> without modification, where 'local' could mean c:\yada\ for one person,
> m:\my documents\wetlands\ for another, and l:\foo\bar\sharedRemote\wet\ to
> another user.
>
> The chdir argument to source() has been suggested for similar questions,
> but I have not been able to figure out how this helps without hardcoding
> the location in some manner.
>
> One option is for each repository to have an untracked file which sets the
> local working directory before sourcing another file that actually sources
> the function definitions.  This file (projectStart.r below) would be read
> into the R session prior to use, at least during development.
>
> projectStart.r                  # untracked
>      setwd("c:\yada\")           # or setwd("L:\foo\bar\sharedRemote\wet\")
> -- this is the only difference among repository locations.
>      source("projectStart2.r")
>
> projectStart2.r                 # tracked
>      source("func1.r")
>      source("func2.r")
>      source("func3.r")
>      ...
>
> func1.r                         # tracked
>
> func2.r                         # tracked
>
> func3.r                         # tracked
>
> ...
>
> Is there an easier or better accepted method?

Yes.  Use

library(myProject)

where myProject is a package containing all the scripts, written as 
functions.

Duncan Murdoch