Hello! What about file.choose?
Would that help? Erin Hodgess, PhD mailto: [email protected] On Mon, Dec 8, 2025 at 10:28 AM Calboli Federico (LUKE) < [email protected]> wrote: > Jeff, > > users will get the files they need to fill in on Teams, and will save them > wherever they like. They will need to use R for image creation, but they > are not trained for computing so they know where their stuff is, but I do > not mean to expect they can use setwd() to set the working directory, or > start with concepts such as working directory. Now they have the option of > clicking their way to their files, they have been told their outputs will > be next to those, and that is it. > > I have work to do, I do not run a circus. My users have now the ability to > run the scripts I wrote for them, get the images they need without the need > for direct support, and we can go forth and get the stuff we get paid to do > done. Sorry if using R as a tool for work offends. > > F > > > -- > > Federico Calboli > > Erityisasiantuntija, tutkimusrahoitus > > Palveluryhmät > > Luonnonvarakeskus > > Files come from somewhere. Where do the files you are referring to come > from? Where will it go after you are done with it? > > Most of the time files that inexperienced users deal with come from > downloads using a web browser, and most of the time they are directed into > a Downloads folder. Whether you use that or the desktop, if the files build > up over time then that group of similar files will get larger without > bound. Will you support deleting the files once you are done with them? > > R can read files from a URL directly almost as easily as it can from a > directory. Can you make R aware of that location? > > If you have another program generating the file, can you have it put it > into an agreeable place? If so, a temporary directory or filename may be > sufficient, since the OS will clean that out occasionally (though cleaning > up after yourself is a better solution. > > > On December 8, 2025 6:24:29 AM PST, "Calboli Federico (LUKE)" < > [email protected]> wrote: > > As much I might agree with you in theory, people here are just using R to > produce some graphs using one line of code I generated, so they can do the > job they are paid to do (which is not computing). Producing said graph and > its permutations would be more complex in any other way, and I want to make > sure the instructions I printed out for them are as simple, accessible, and > require the least amount of supervision. > > F > > > -- > > Federico Calboli > > Erityisasiantuntija, tutkimusrahoitus > > Palveluryhmät > > Luonnonvarakeskus > > People who use computers should understand file names. It does not matter > if you call them folders or directories they are the same animal. > I have a file called "my_file" > Where does it live? "On my computer" is like saying my mailing address is > "Earth." > > All files have a memory location in your computer where the computer can > find the file contents. All names consist of two, but more commonly three > parts: location, name, type. These answer "where is the file," "what is it > called," and "what kind of file?" The format for location is disk drive > followed by an ordered list of (directories or folders) from outer to > innermost. I am on Windows, so for me this looks like c://dir1/dir2/dir3/. > In words, I look on my hard drive named "C" and will find a directory > called dir1. Inside dir1 will be dir2 and inside that will be dir3 where I > can find my file. > > File names typically end with a period followed by the type of file. .xlsx > for an Excel file, .txt for a text file, .csv for comma separated values > file, docx for a Microsoft word file. Most of the time on Windows the > extension is hidden, and the path is shown at the top of the window. This > was all very obvious in the old days working with DOS, but windows made > things "easy" and took this away from the default output. In any case, > files are all saved something like this: "c://dir1/dir2/dir3/my_file.docx". > > I have multiple projects in R. I could change the working directory in R > multiple times each day and try to keep up. I am bad at that. My solution > is that I never change the working directory, so all read and write > statements include the full file name, path and all. I can then switch > between projects and not worry about where to read or save things and I do > not sometimes get files saved in strange places. One could set the working > directory at the start of each program, but that assumes that I want to > always start working at the top of each program. I have not had much luck > with that approach. > > I sometimes write software for others to use. In this case I give users a > popup window where they select their file using a graphical interface and > then the program extracts the path from where the user got the file. This > path is then added to the file name the user provides to save output. In > this way I do not have to worry about the difference between > "c://dir1/dir2/dir3/my_file.docx" and "c:\\dir1\dir2\dir3\my_file.docx" > > Regards, > Tim > > -----Original Message----- > From: R-help <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Calboli Federico > (LUKE) > Sent: Monday, December 8, 2025 6:22 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [R] Windows standard interface: change working dorectory > > [External Email] > > Hello, > > I need to provide the simplest possible indication to R users with either > windows or macos machines on how to change working directory. Using setwd() > will not work because I cannot trust them to even understand the concept of > working directory. > > On macos it is possible to have a GUI menu (the standard R GUI) that would > allow the users to "click their way to where their data files are", is > there such facility for the windows R GUI (the out-of-the-box one)? I have > no access to windows machines, so I cannot check, but I am sure some people > will use a windows laptop. > > F > > > -- > > Federico Calboli > > Erityisasiantuntija, tutkimusrahoitus > > Palveluryhm�t > > Luonnonvarakeskus > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > ________________________________ > [email protected] mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide > https://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html< > https://www.r-project.org/posting-guide.html> > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. > > -- > Sent from my phone. Please excuse my brevity. > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > > ______________________________________________ > [email protected] mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide > https://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] ______________________________________________ [email protected] mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide https://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
