% File src/library/base/man/source.Rd
% Part of the R package, http://www.R-project.org
% Copyright 1995-2007 R Core Development Team
% Distributed under GPL 2 or later

\name{source}
\title{Read R Code from a File or a Connection}
\usage{
source(file, local = FALSE, echo = verbose, print.eval = echo,
       verbose = getOption("verbose"),
       prompt.echo = getOption("prompt"),
       max.deparse.length = 150, chdir = FALSE,
       encoding = getOption("encoding"),
       continue.echo = getOption("continue"),
       skip.echo = 0)
}
\alias{source}
\arguments{
  \item{file}{a connection or a character string giving the pathname
    of the file or URL to read from.}
  \item{local}{if \code{local} is \code{FALSE}, the statements scanned
    are evaluated in the user's workspace (the global environment),
    otherwise in the environment calling \code{source}.}
  \item{echo}{logical; if \code{TRUE}, each expression is printed
    after parsing, before evaluation.}
  \item{print.eval}{logical; if \code{TRUE}, the result of
    \code{eval(i)} is printed for each expression \code{i}; defaults
    to \code{echo}.}
  \item{verbose}{if \code{TRUE}, more diagnostics (than just
    \code{echo = TRUE}) are printed during parsing and evaluation of
    input, including extra info for \bold{each} expression.}
  \item{prompt.echo}{character; gives the prompt to be used if
    \code{echo = TRUE}.}
  \item{max.deparse.length}{integer; is used only if \code{echo} is
    \code{TRUE} and gives the maximal length of the printout of a
    single expression.}
  \item{chdir}{logical; if \code{TRUE} and \code{file} is a pathname,
    the \R working directory is temporarily changed to the directory
    containing \code{file} for evaluating.}
  \item{encoding}{character vector.  The encoding(x) to be assumed when
    \code{file} is a character string: see \code{\link{file}}.  A
    possible value is \code{"unknown"}: see the Details.}
  \item{continue.echo}{character; gives the prompt to use on
    continuation lines if \code{echo = TRUE}.}
  \item{skip.echo}{integer; how many comment lines at the start of the
    file to skip if \code{echo = TRUE}.}
}
\description{
  \code{source} causes \R to accept its input from the named file or URL
  (the name must be quoted) or connection.  Input is read and
  \code{\link{parse}}d by from that file until the end of the file is
  reached, then the parsed expressions are evaluated sequentially in the
  chosen environment.
}
\details{
  All versions of \R accept input from a connection with end of line
  marked by LF (as used on Unix), CRLF (as used on DOS/Windows)
  or CR (as used on classic MacOS).  The final line can be incomplete, that
  is missing the final EOL marker.

  If \code{\link{options}}("keep.source") is true (the default), the
  source of functions is kept so they can be listed exactly as input.
  This imposes a limit of 128K bytes on the function size and a nesting
  limit of 265.  Use \code{option(keep.source = FALSE)} when these
  limits might take effect: if exceeded they generate an error.

  This paragraph applies if \code{file} is a filename (rather than a
  connection).  If \code{encoding = "unknown"}, an attempt is made to
  guess the encoding.  The result of \code{\link{localeToCharset}()} is
  used as a guide.  If \code{encoding} has two or more elements, they are
  tried in turn until the file/URL can be read without error in the
  trial encoding.

  Unlike input from a console, lines in the file or on a connection can
  contain an unlimited number of characters.  However, there is a limit
  of 8192 bytes on the size of character strings.
  
  When \code{skip.echo > 0}, that many comment lines at the start of
  the file will not be echoed.  This does not affect the execution of
  the code at all.  If there are executable lines within the first
  \code{skip.echo} lines, echoing will start with the first of them.
  
}
\references{
  Becker, R. A., Chambers, J. M. and Wilks, A. R. (1988)
  \emph{The New S Language}.
  Wadsworth \& Brooks/Cole.
}
\seealso{
  \code{\link{demo}} which uses \code{source};
  \code{\link{eval}}, \code{\link{parse}} and \code{\link{scan}};
  \code{\link{options}("keep.source")}.

  \code{\link{sys.source}} which is a streamlined version to source a
  file into an environment.
}
\examples{
## If you want to source() a bunch of files, something like
## the following may be useful:
 sourceDir <- function(path, trace = TRUE, ...) {
    for (nm in list.files(path, pattern = "\\\\.[RrSsQq]$")) {
       if(trace) cat(nm,":")           %   ^^^^ doubled in *.Rd file
       source(file.path(path, nm), ...)
       if(trace) cat("\n")
    }
 }
}
\keyword{file}
\keyword{programming}
\keyword{connection}