Using file.exist in R

Question

I'm new to R and i have question about using file.exist.

I tried:

if(!file.exist("data")){
    dir.create("data")
}

But I get the error, could not find function "file.exist".

I then tried:

if (is!TRUE(file.exists("data"))) {
     dir.create("data")
}

I still get an error, unexpected '!' in "if (is!". But it creates the folder.

What am I doing wrong?

`file.exist` is different than `file.exists`. I don't really know what made you think `is!TRUE` is a function but it isn't. — Dason, Sep 13 '18 at 17:22
Possible duplicate of [How do I check the existence of a local file](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14904983/how-do-i-check-the-existence-of-a-local-file) — help-info.de, Sep 13 '18 at 17:23
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score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 13 '18 at 17:27

7

Your are looking for the following:

if(!dir.exists("data")) {
    dir.create("data")
}

Here are some Links that might help you on the way:

Boolean Operators

files2 package for file system interfacing

answered Sep 13 '18 at 17:27

darian_

71
3

Note that `file.exists` will detect directories, but it will also detect files. `dir.exists` is the most ideal here, good suggestion! – Badger Sep 13 '18 at 17:33

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 13 '18 at 17:31

While this is potentially a duplicate, I think it's worth a little explanation for you.

if(!file.exists("data")){
    dir.create("data")
}

This is the right way to go about it, you've done that well. Your issue is R doesn't know where "data" lives if you've not set the working directory to the location that data would or wouldn't exist. 2 ways to tackle this: 1:

setwd("C:/folder/folder/folder/data_location")
if(!file.exists("data")){
    dir.create("data")
}

2:

if(!file.exists("C:/folder/folder/folder/data_location/data")){
   dir.create("data")
}

Something else I've noticed is you're looking for a file, then creating a directory. If you're interested in a directory, check out dir.exists.

Hope this helps!

Using file.exist in R

2 Answers2