Saving files in R workspace

[jhan]

Hi,

I need some help here.

I am using R in Linux. What's the best way to save data from R process. I did 'save the workspace' when i exit R but this doesn't update the output file when I use another machine.

What's the good way to do this?

Jun

[pallevillesen]

I suggest you check

?save
?load

for saving specific R objects/data

[jhan]

Thanks for the response.

I thought the 'Save workspace image' did the same as the 'save.image'function.

> q()
Save workspace image? [y/n/c]: y

aren't they the same?

[TiborNagy]

When you save your workspace R creates two hidden files: .Rhistory and .RData
Using save.image you can change this default behaviour and save to an alternative file.

[pallevillesen]

...and load that file again on a different machine... (after using save.image())

But saving specific/required objects only will make your code nicer (and memory requirements smaller).

[jhan]

thanks the answering from both.

So when I quit R the .RData saved in my working directory is a hidden file I can't see.

Now I start saving my specific/required files using
save(myresult, file="myresult.RData").

This way I can see the files saved. Does that mean I can also save them as .txt or .csv to open in other environment (not R)?

And what's the difference between save.image() and save()?

[TiborNagy]

save.image() is a shortcut for save().
You can use ascii=T options to save the images as a human readable file, but it is contains more data than you need (all objects, system settings). If you would like to save only a specific variable, use write.table() (or write.csv) instead.

[jhan]

thanks for the response.

[Sebastiann]

save.image() is a shortcut for save().
You can use ascii=T options to save the images as a human readable file, but it is contains more data than you need (all objects, system settings). If you would like to save only a specific variable, use write.table() (or write.csv) instead.

Thnx for providing the solution i hadn't asked but was suffering with the same problem...

[Jeremy]

I usually just use write(...) or write.table(...)
to get information about them type into R:
help(write)
and then
help(write.table)
or
help('whatever function you want information on')