Introduction to RStudio with Git

Overview

Teaching: 45 min
Exercises: 10 min

Questions

• Where are the Git controls in RStudio?

• Where do I begin for a brand-new R project?

• How do I clone and work on an R project from Github?

• How do I take an existing R project and turn it into a Git repository?

Objectives

• Explore the git features in RStudio

• Use git from the RStudio command line

In Version Control With Git, we saw some of the potential benefits of using a version control system such as Git to track changes and manage versions of our files. We also saw that connecting your Git repository to a remote such as Github allows us to collaborate with others, share your code, to store a duplicate copy of your repository somewhere other than your laptop, and to gain other benefits as well.

Bringing RStudio into the picture

Now let’s consider a project we’re working on that involves R code. We certainly can manage our code files as a git/Github repository entirely from the command line, whether via the RStudio terminal or completely outside of RStudio – and that would work just fine. However, RStudio has a built-in Git integration that you may find more convenient for some (but not all) of the typical Git workflow steps. It’s worth our giving RStudio’s git features a try, and you can decide which combination of RStudio features and command-line git you prefer.

Where are you starting from?

There are three basic scenarios you might be starting from:

1. A blank slate.
2. You have an RStudio project on your computer, but it’s not a Git repository.
3. There is a Github repository with some R code that you’d like to clone, work on, and perhaps contribute back to.

Blank slate

Let’s take the blank slate scenario. Probably the easist way to do this is to:

1. Go to Github. Click green “New repository” button. Or, if you are on your own profile page, click on “Repositories”, then click the green “New” button.

Repository name: myrepo (or whatever you wish) Public YES Initialize this repository with a README Click the big green button “Create repository.”

Copy the HTTPS clone URL to your clipboard via the green “Clone or Download” button. Or copy the SSH URL if you chose to set up SSH keys.

1. In RStudio, start a new Project:

File > New Project > Version Control > Git. In the “repository URL” paste the URL of your new GitHub repository. It will be something like this https://github.com/jennybc/myrepo.git. Be intentional about where you create this Project.

Do You See a “Version Control” Option?

Although we’re not going to use it here, there should be a “version control” option on this menu. That is what you would click on if you wanted to create a project on your computer by cloning a repository from GitHub. If that option is not present, it probably means that RStudio doesn’t know where your Git executable is, and you won’t be able to progress further in this lesson until you tell RStudio where it is.

Find your Git Executiable

First let’s make sure that Git is installed on your computer. Open your shell on Mac or Linux, or on Windows open the command prompt and then type:

• which git (Mac, Linux)
• where git (Windows)

If there is no version of Git on your computer, please follow the Git installation instructions in the setup of this lesson to install Git now. Next open your shell or command prompt and type which git (Mac, Linux), or where git (Windows). Copy the path to the git executable.

e.g. On one Windows computer which had GitHub Desktop installed on it, the path was: C:/Users/UserName/AppData/Local/GitHubDesktop/app-1.1.1/resources/app/git/cmd/git.exe

NOTE: The path on your computer will be somewhat different.

Tell RStudio where to find GitHub

In RStudio, go to the Tools menu > Global Options > Git/SVN and then browse to the git executable you found in the command prompt or shell. Now restart RStudio. Note: Even if you have Git installed, you may need to accept the XCode license if you are using macOS.

Suggest you “Open in new session”. Click “Create Project” to create a new directory, which will be all of these things:

• a directory or “folder” on your computer
• a Git repository, linked to a remote GitHub repository
• an RStudio Project In the absence of other constraints, I suggest that all of your R projects have exactly this set-up.

Key Points

• RStudio’s Git integration is an alternative way to use some of the Git commands

• RStudio’s Git integration doesn’t do everything in Git; some work in the Terminal pane is often necessary

• The workflow for setting up a project in RStudio differs depending on whether it’s a pre-existing Github repository or not