f_example_data: Access the bundled example datasets

In rfriend: Provides Batch Functions and Visualisation for Basic Statistical Procedures

Access the bundled example datasets

Description

Convenience accessor for the example data files shipped with the package (used throughout the rfriend course). With no arguments it lists the available files. Given a file name it returns the full path to the installed file, ready to pass to a reader such as read.csv, read_excel or f_open_file. Optionally it copies the file to a destination so learners can practise importing a file that sits in their own working directory.

Usage

f_example_data(file = NULL, dest = NULL, overwrite = FALSE)

Arguments

file	Character string: the name of an example file (e.g. "plant_trial_raw.csv"). If NULL (the default) the function returns the names of all available example files.
dest	Optional path. If supplied, the example file is copied there and the path of the copy is returned (invisibly). dest may be a directory (the original file name is kept) or a full target file path. The working directory is never changed.
overwrite	Logical; passed to file.copy when dest is supplied. Default FALSE.

Details

The files live in the package's extdata directory and are located with system.file. Because system.file() returns an empty string for a missing file, this function checks explicitly and fails with an informative error listing the valid names, rather than letting a later reader fail on an empty path.

Value

If file is NULL, a character vector of available file names. If file is supplied and dest is NULL, the full path to the installed example file. If dest is supplied, the path to the copied file (returned invisibly).

Author(s)

Sander H. van Delden [e-mail]

Examples

# List the available example files
f_example_data()

# Get the path to one of them, then read it
path <- f_example_data("plant_trial_raw.csv")
df <- read.csv(path)

## Not run: 
# Copy a file into the current working directory to import it "from disk"
f_example_data("plant_trial_raw.xlsx", dest = getwd())

# Open an example file in its default application
f_open_file(f_example_data("plant_trial_raw.xlsx"))

## End(Not run)

rfriend documentation built on July 7, 2026, 1:06 a.m.