Default setting for directory in wflow_start?

[pcarbo]

I'm wondering if it would make sense to set the default for directory in wflow_start to getwd(), or something like that.

[rgayler]

My 2c worth - I would leave it as a mandatory argument because it's possibly safer to have the user explicitly think about where they want it.

For getwd() to be reasonable the user needs to have already created a directory and setwd() to it. In which case, wflow_start() isn't the start, it's two commands after the start.

If the user hasn't created a directory and setwd() to it, then wflow_start()using the current directory is probably a mistake.

[pcarbo]

Thanks @rgayler.

[jdblischak]

@pcarbo Thanks for proposing the idea and @rgayler for weighing in. Below are my thoughts:

There are 2 main use cases for wflow_start():

1. Creating a new workflowr project (existing = FALSE, the default)
2. Adding the workflowr infrastructure to an existing project (existing = TRUE). While the rarer use case, it is definitely encouraged, e.g. we have an entire vingette dedicated to migrating existing projects

If we changed the argument to have a default, e.g. directory = ".", this would have the following impact:

1. For the first use case, I don't see it as very helpful, for the same reasons that @rgayler mentioned above. For the correct usage, the user would need to first create the new directory manually and then change directories. Thus I don't think it is saving any time. For the incorrect usage, I worry about new users running wflow_start(), then getting an error message, and then accidentally running wflow_start(existing = TRUE), which would create a .git directory, likely in their home directory.
2. For the use case of converting an existing project, this would shorten the command from wflow_start(".", existing = TRUE) to wflow_start(existing = TRUE). Personally this doesn't seem worth it to me. It would require lengthening the documentation for the argument directory of wflow_start(), which is possibly the first documentation that new users will read.

@pcarbo Is the directory argument a pain point in your usage and/or have you observed this as a stumbling block for other users?

[pcarbo]

These are all fair points. I thought it seemed like a simple improvement but I didn't consider all the use cases. Feel free to close this.