How to include (source) R script in other scripts

Question

I\'ve created a utility R script, util.R, which I want to use from other scripts in my project. What is the proper way to ensure that the function this script defines are av

Answer 1

Say util.R produces a function foo(). You can check if this function is available in the global environment and source the script if it isn't:

if(identical(length(ls(pattern = "^foo$")), 0))
    source("util.R")

That will find anything with the name foo. If you want to find a function, then (as mentioned by @Andrie) exists() is helpful but needs to be told exactly what type of object to look for, e.g.

if(exists("foo", mode = "function"))
    source("util.R")

Here is exists() in action:

> exists("foo", mode = "function")
[1] FALSE
> foo <- function(x) x
> exists("foo", mode = "function")
[1] TRUE
> rm(foo)
> foo <- 1:10
> exists("foo", mode = "function")
[1] FALSE