[R] .Rprofile vs. First (more of an opinion question)

[Jeff Newmiller]

I concur with Rolf.

.RData files (the ones with nothing before the period) are just traps for your future self, with no documentation. I avoid them like the plague. I refer to specifically-named Something.RData files in my .R/.Rnw/.Rmd files to cache results of long computations, but they are optional in my workflow because I always have R code that can regenerate them.

.Rprofile files offer consistency of behavior  regardless of which working directory you use, and you can comment them.
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Sent from my phone. Please excuse my brevity.

On March 10, 2015 3:38:20 PM PDT, Rolf Turner <r.turner at auckland.ac.nz> wrote:
>On 11/03/15 11:17, Erin Hodgess wrote:
>> Hello again
>>
>> I am using R-3.1.2 on Windows 7.
>>
>> I am the only one using this particular computer.
>>
>> My question is probably more of an opinion question.
>>
>> I want to set a "repos" with the options.  Also, I want to setwd and
>load a
>> particular workspace.
>>
>> Am I better off to put everything into .Rprofile, please?  Or .First?
>>
>> Or put the options into .Rprofile and everything else into .First,
>please?
>>
>> Thanks for any help.
>
>How do you create your .First() function and get it into your
>workspace?
>
>I may be confused here, but I think that you would need to make sure 
>that this is done in each workspace (in each working directory) that
>you 
>use.  It may be the case that you use only a single working directory, 
>but it is generally good practice to use a different working directory 
>for each separate project that you engage in.
>
>In contrast, putting your settings in .Rprofile causes them to be 
>applied in any working directory in which you start R.
>
>I also think that there's more danger of .RData getting lost or 
>over-written --- it is getting used all the time, whereas .Rprofile
>just 
>sits there and does its thing once it's been created --- than there is 
>of .Rprofile getting lost or over-written.
>
>Consequently my 2 bob's worth is:  Use .Rprofile.
>
>Of course, this is a case of the blind leading the blind.  Caveat
>lector.
>
>cheers,
>
>Rolf