How do I open a script file in RStudio using an R command?

Question

I have a simple script file called test.R. It's saved in the working directory. When I go to File > Open > test.R, it opens the file in the editor (without executing the code, which is what I want).

How do I do this by typing a command in the console window? To be clear, I just want to open (not execute) the file.

score 98 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 16 '18 at 21:58

98

You are looking for file.edit

file.edit('test.R')

should open the file in an editor (if you are in RStudio, this should default to RStudio)

edited Mar 16 '18 at 21:58

nbro

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answered May 20 '14 at 03:49

mnel

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This code works very nicely. Except when I use it in a function *inside a package*, then the file opens outside of RStudio (rather than as another script within RStudio). Any idea why? – stevec Oct 10 '19 at 06:47
1

I'd love to know the answer to that to: how can you call the Rstudio editor from within a package function? – Ken Benoit Apr 12 '20 at 11:57
For this problem, try > rstudioapi::navigateToFile("test.R") – HoneyBuddha Aug 27 '20 at 00:49
It does not work from the chank inside of *.rmd. – DmitriBolt Jan 21 '23 at 03:55

score 14 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 18 '20 at 03:30

14

It appears that if you are using RStudio then another option is to use rstudioapi::navigateToFile("test.R")

answered Feb 18 '20 at 03:30

dpritch

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Thanks. It works from the chank inside of *.rmd. – DmitriBolt Jan 21 '23 at 03:56

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 24 '20 at 05:57

Another alternative is the shell.exec function.

shell.exec("text.R") # This will open the file or URL using the path associated with it

Also, I think for your use case. This code snippet might be a little bit useful.

file <- "example.csv"
sub_dir <- "subdirectory"
dir.create(sub_dir)
writeLines("myfile",file.path(sub_dir, file))
# Works
shell.exec(file.path(sub_dir, file, fsep = "\\"))
shell.exec(file.path(sub_dir, file))

score 2 · Answer 4 · edited Mar 22 '23 at 19:00

2

I had the same issue that utils::file.edit() within my package opens outside R-studio. I changed it to usethis::edit_file(). With this function the file opens inside R-studio.

edited Mar 22 '23 at 19:00

Anders Ellern Bilgrau

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answered Sep 25 '20 at 09:11

pbertens

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How do I open a script file in RStudio using an R command?

4 Answers4

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