Andrew, Thanks. I reviewed the code for "require" and saw: "if (!character.only) package <- as.character(substitute(package))"
#This helps me better understand what is going on. I am sharing this here because I think it might help others understand. as.character( substitute("this_pac_does_not_exist") ) #quoted as.character( substitute( this_pac_does_not_exist ) ) #not quoted as.character( substitute("this_pac_does_not_exist") ) == as.character( substitute( this_pac_does_not_exist ) ) ##### packages_i_want_to_use <- c("this_pac_does_not_exist", "abcz") as.character( substitute(packages_i_want_to_use[1] ) ) packages_i_want_to_use[1] as.character( substitute(packages_i_want_to_use[1] ) ) == packages_i_want_to_use[1] #To prevent substitute(packages_i_want_to_use[1] from getting changed to as.character( substitute(packages_i_want_to_use[1] ) ), we need to set character.only = TRUE On Mon, Oct 24, 2022 at 12:53 PM Andrew Simmons <akwsi...@gmail.com> wrote: > > In the first one, the argument is a character vector of length 1, so the code > works perfectly fine. > > The second is a call, and when coerced to a character vector should look like > > c("[", "packages_i_want_to_use", "1") > > You can try this yourself with quote(packages_i_want_to_use[1]) which returns > its first argument, unevaluated. > > On Mon, Oct 24, 2022, 12:46 Kelly Thompson <kt1572...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Thanks! >> >> # Please, can you help me understand why >> require( 'base' ) # works, but >> require( packages_i_want_to_use[1] ) # does not work? >> >> # In require( 'base' ), what is the "first argument"? >> >> On Mon, Oct 24, 2022 at 12:29 PM Andrew Simmons <akwsi...@gmail.com> wrote: >> > >> > require(), similarly to library(), does not evaluate its first argument >> > UNLESS you add character.only = TRUE >> > >> > require( packages_i_want_to_use[1], character.only = TRUE) >> > >> > >> > On Mon, Oct 24, 2022, 12:26 Kelly Thompson <kt1572...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> >> >> # Below, when using require(), why do I get the error message "Error >> >> in if (!loaded) { : the condition has length > 1" ? >> >> >> >> # This is my reproducible code: >> >> >> >> #create a vector with the names of the packages I want to use >> >> packages_i_want_to_use <- c('base', 'this_pac_does_not_exist') >> >> >> >> # Here I get error messages: >> >> require( packages_i_want_to_use[1] ) >> >> #Error in if (!loaded) { : the condition has length > 1 >> >> >> >> require( packages_i_want_to_use[2] ) >> >> #Error in if (!loaded) { : the condition has length > 1 >> >> >> >> # Here I get what I expect: >> >> require('base') >> >> >> >> require('this_pac_does_not_exist') >> >> #Loading required package: this_pac_does_not_exist >> >> #Warning message: >> >> #In library(package, lib.loc = lib.loc, character.only = TRUE, >> >> logical.return = TRUE, : >> >> # there is no package called ‘this_pac_does_not_exist’ >> >> >> >> ______________________________________________ >> >> R-help@r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see >> >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help >> >> PLEASE do read the posting guide >> >> http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html >> >> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. >> >> ______________________________________________ >> R-help@r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help >> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html >> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.