R/get_file_path.R

In matt-jay/rjaytools: A Collection of Utility Functions for Frequent Tasks in R

#' Create a character string for an absolute, fully resolved file path.
#'
#' This function constructs a full file path string for use in reading from or writing to the file system. It is always using a base path by default, and adds any additional relative path under it when one is passed to the function.
#'
#' The base path defaults to the user directory (\code{~}), and can be defined with an environment variable \code{JT_LOCAL_PATH}.
#'
#' @param relativePath Optional. A character string defining the relative path under the base path. See the Details section for more on the base path.
#'
#' @return A character string with the full expanded path (using \link{path.expand}.
#'
#' @examples
#' get_file_path('my/storage/path')
#' get_file_path('my/storage/path/for/this_file.csv')
#'
#' Sys.setenv(JT_LOCAL_PATH = '~/my/custom/storage/path')
#' get_file_path('for/this_file.csv')

get_file_path <- function(relativePath = "") {

    basePath <- ifelse(Sys.getenv("JT_LOCAL_PATH") == "", "~", Sys.getenv("JT_LOCAL_PATH"))

    fullPath <- paste(
      path.expand(basePath),
      "/",
      relativePath,
      sep = "",
      collapse = ""
    )

    return(fullPath)
}