You can use the following methods to check if a directory exists in R:
Method 1: Check If Directory Exists
dir.exists(file.path(main_dir, sub_dir))
This function will return TRUE if the directory exists and FALSE if it does not.
Method 2: Create Directory If It Doesn’t Exist
#define directory my_directory path(main_dir, sub_dir) #create directory if it doesn't exist if (!dir.exists(my_directory)) {dir.create(my_directory)}
Note that main_dir and sub_dir are strings that specify main directory and sub directory paths.
The following examples show how to use each method in practice.
Example 1: Check If Directory Exists
Suppose we would like to check if the following directories exist:
- “C:/Users/bob/”
- “C:/Users/bob/Documents”
- “C:/Users/bob/Data_Science_Documents”
We can use the following syntax to do so:
#define main directory main_dir #define various sub directories sub_dir1 #check if main directory exists dir.exists(file.path(main_dir)) [1] TRUE #check if main directory and sub directory 1 exists dir.exists(file.path(main_dir, sub_dir1)) [1] TRUE #check if main directory and sub directory2 exists dir.exists(file.path(main_dir, sub_dir2)) [1] FALSE
From the output we can see:
- “C:/Users/bob/” – Exists
- “C:/Users/bob/Documents” – Exists
- “C:/Users/bob/Data_Science_Documents” – Does Not Exist
Method 2: Create Directory If It Doesn’t Exist
Suppose we would like to create the following directory if it doesn’t already exist:
- “C:/Users/bob/Data_Science_Documents”
We can use the following syntax to do so:
#define main directory
main_dir
#define sub directory
sub_dir
#define directory
my_directory path(main_dir, sub_dir)
#create directory if it doesn't exist
if (!dir.exists(my_directory)) {dir.create(my_directory)}
If we navigate to this folder on our computer, we can see that this directory did not exist but has now been created:
Note that if this directory already existed, a new one would not be created.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in R:
How to Load Multiple Packages in R
How to Check if a Package is Installed in R
How to Clear the Environment in R