> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.bcbi.brown.edu/codiac-for-health/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.bcbi.brown.edu/codiac-for-health/computing/r/file-input-output.md).

# File Input/Output

When coding in R, you will often need to input datasets to work with! The easiest ways to do so are either from a .csv file or a .txt file. To do this, you can use the read.csv() and read\_table() functions, respectively. The following demonstrates these functions using a hypothetical "hospital\_data" dataset. 

To output a file from R, use the syntax sink("FileName.FileType").

## File Input:

```r
#If the dataset is already loaded into the R directory
read.csv("hospital_data.csv")
read_table("hospital_data.txt")

#To add a new dataset from machine downloads to directory (Mac)
read.csv("/users/username/Downloads/hospital_data.csv")
read_table("/users/username/Downloads/hospital_data.txt")

#To add a new dataset from machine desktop to directory (Windows)
read.csv("C:\\Users\\username\\Desktop\\hospital_data.csv")
read_table("C:\\Users\\username\\Desktop\\hospital_data.txt")

#Note that forward slashes are used on Mac and backwards slashes are used by Windows
```

## File Output:

```r
#To output a file as a .txt file:
sink("hospital_data.txt")

#To output a file as a .csv file:
sink("hospital_data.csv")
```

## Resources:

* R Documentation: [read.csv file input](https://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/r-release/R-data.html#Variations-on-read_002etable)
  * More read.csv resources [Import .csv files in R](https://teacherscollege.screenstepslive.com/a/1122473-import-data-in-r-csv-files-into-r-studio)
* R Documentation: [read\_table file input](https://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/r-release/R-intro.html#The-read_002etable_0028_0029-function)
* R Documentation: [File output](https://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/r-release/R-intro.html#Executing-commands-from-or-diverting-output-to-a-file)


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