Change default value of path to getOption(drake.path_cache)

[matthiasgomolka]

Prework

• [x] Read and abide by drake's code of conduct.
• [x] Search for duplicates among the existing issues, both open and closed.

Proposal

In our team we use drake with a non-default cache directory. This works fine, but it would be a little more convenient if we could easily pass the non-default path to all drake functions which use the arguments cache and path (such as readd() or loadd()). This could be done easily if the default value for path would be changed to getOption(drake.path_cache).

Then, one could set this option and all drake functions which use the cache would work without specifying path = "/path/to/cache" or cache = non_default_cache.

Current behaviour

loadd(my_target, path = "/path/to/cache")
# or
loadd(my_target, cache = my_cache)

Proposed behaviour

options(drake.path_cache = "/path/to/cache)

loadd(my_target)

This would work because the default value for cache is drake::drake_cache(path = path). So the changes are minimal and the default behaviour would not change since getOption(drake.path_cache) defaults to NULL (the current default for path) if the option drake.path_chache is not set.

Of course, the name of the option is just a suggestion.

What do you think?

BTW: Due to drake, many of my colleages now make the switch to using R. So, again, thanks for your efforts!

[wlandau]

I regret cache flexibility in drake because it causes room for too much room for ambiguity and dangerous careless errors that cause loss of hard-earned data. For a tool that tries to promote reproducibility, this is especially egregious. I try to elaborate on this at https://github.com/ropensci/targets/discussions/297. targets is similar here because drake:r_make() works just like targets::tar_make() and is recommended over regular make().

[matthiasgomolka]

Thanks for the explanation. I understand your reasoning, but I don't see how I can apply this strict view to my situation at work.

Would it be OK to open a "Help"-Issue in the targets GitHub repo?

[wlandau]

Sure, feel free to post a discussion thread to targets.