Frequently Asked Questions

R and Rstudio

Here are some answers to frequently asked datalab questions / problems

• Always do your analysis in the same folder as the dataset file. To copy files from one directory to another, select the dataset file in the Files pane and select More > Copy to… in the toolbar. Navigate to the directory where your markdown document is and confirm.

• To download files from the datalab to your local computer, select the file(s) in the Files pane. To download select the More > Export menu in the toolbar.

• If you cannot knit your report, try to look at the error message. The most common problems are caused by the fact that knitting to a report is done in a new environment. Every step has to be in the rmarkdown, in the correct order.

  • It cannot find the file you are trying to open. Often the code to open the file is not in the rmarkdown document.

  • It cannot find the object you are referring to. Usually this is because the definition of the variable comes further down in the script, or is not in the script at all.

  • When executing, functions in R sometimes also generate text messages. Unless these are error messages, they can usually just be ignored.

    • When loading the tidyverse, it generates both information about which packages are loaded and also a warning that some functions in other packages will not be invoked in the normal way. One way to not see this message is to put it in a chunk where you choose to run the code but show nothing.

    • ggplot sometimes provides information messages. These can safely be ignored.

    • huxreg sometimes warns that it cannot generate some elements of a regression table. These can usually be ignored.