How to set up your computer for R

How to set up your computer for R

Code language versions

1. R – We used v3.6.3, but all code should work in v4.0, but some checks may be needed.

Organization

1. Each case study has a separate folder.
2. Within case study folders, codes in different languages are simply stored together.
3. Some intermediary files (csv, rds) may be saved there, too.
4. Currently output is not stored here

Get R

1. Download R. We used v4.0.1. aka “See things now”
2. We suggest to use R Studio as editor for R codes. (There many other options, too.) You can get R Studio for free.

How to run case studies in R

1. Step 1: Set the working directory for your project.

   • Option 1: [Recommended] In case you use RStudio create a new Rstudio project for the case studies and load it every time you are working on the project. See the official documentation on how to create and use Rstudio projects.
   • Option 2: Make sure some other way that your working directory is the root folder of the case study repository.

2. Step 2: Create an .Renviron file in your project folder and set the directory that contains the use case data. See more information in .Renviron file here.

   • Copy (and rename to .Renviron) the .Renviron_sample file
   • Set DATA_DIR to the absolute path of the directory that contains the use case data
   • If you have set up an Rstudio project described in Step 1. then just keep the new .Renviron file in your project folder. If you do not use Rstudio project then make sure some other way that this .Renviron file is processed.