Can I invoke linux shell commands in a R session?

Question

I am using RStudio and at times I want to remove some files in the working directory (e.g., previously generated .csv files).

It is quite inconvenient to frequently switch to bash and execute rm. Is there any way of invoking commands in the R console?

Also take a look at the [file manipulation](http://stat.ethz.ch/R-manual/R-patched/library/base/html/files.html) documentation. — Thomas, Jul 02 '13 at 10:28
This is a duplicate of: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14219887/how-to-delete-a-file-with-r — CnrL, Jul 02 '13 at 10:42

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 02 '13 at 10:28

6

See here Use system (or shell) as agstudy's comment says

e.g. system("pwd")

answered Jul 02 '13 at 10:28

doctorlove

CnrL · Answer 2 · 2013-07-02T13:12:53.817

6

If you are just removing files, rather than executing arbitrary commands on the shell, you would be better off following Thomas's suggestion:

?file.remove

Using this function instead of shell("rm example.csv") is safer and more portable.

edited Jul 02 '13 at 13:12

answered Jul 02 '13 at 10:36

CnrL

2 Answers2