2:17 p.m.
I would like to change working directory dynamically in
a script, to the location of the script (*without* knowing
where that is). Is there an easy way (for students)?
I realize they can change working directory in a shell
and set the gretl option to follow this. That's not what
Perhaps I'm looking for something like __file__ in Python
(e.g., a gretl string `scriptdir` that gretl would set when
running a script).
Thanks,
Alan Isaac
2:43 p.m.
On Fri, 25 Sep 2009, Alan G Isaac wrote:
I would like to change working directory dynamically in
a script, to the location of the script (*without* knowing
where that is). Is there an easy way (for students)?
Offhand, no. But what are you actually trying to do, in the
larger scheme of things? There may be an easier way of doing it.
Allin.
3:11 p.m.
On Fri, 25 Sep 2009, Alan G Isaac wrote:
> I would like to change working directory dynamically in
> a script, to the location of the script (*without* knowing
> where that is). Is there an easy way (for students)?
On 9/25/2009 2:43 PM, Allin Cottrell wrote:
Offhand, no. But what are you actually trying to do, in the larger
scheme of things? There may be an easier way of doing it.
Students store data relative to the scripts.
E.g.,
coursefolder
scripts
data
temp
Now gretl will search for data relative to the
script directory, so on Windows they can use
open ..\data\mydata.gdt
But now suppose they try the obvious:
store ..\temp\tempdata.gdt
This does not work, because store presumes
this is all relative to the working directory.
Students are often using lab computers with
network drives or flash drives, so it works
best if everything is relative to their
scripts directory.
Things are actually worse than this. Suppose
they try
store tempdata.gdt
open tempdata.gdt
Now `store` will store this in the working directory,
but `open` will first look relative to the script,
so if there is also a `tempdata.gdt` in `classfolder`scripts`
they will open that by mistake!
Hope that's illustrative,
Alan
4:01 p.m.
On Fri, 25 Sep 2009, Alan G Isaac wrote:
> On Fri, 25 Sep 2009, Alan G Isaac wrote:
> > I would like to change working directory dynamically in
> > a script, to the location of the script (*without* knowing
> > where that is). Is there an easy way (for students)?
On 9/25/2009 2:43 PM, Allin Cottrell wrote:
> Offhand, no. But what are you actually trying to do, in the larger
> scheme of things? There may be an easier way of doing it.
Students store data relative to the scripts.
E.g.,
coursefolder
scripts
data
temp
Now gretl will search for data relative to the
script directory, so on Windows they can use
open ..\data\mydata.gdt
But now suppose they try the obvious:
store ..\temp\tempdata.gdt
This does not work, because store presumes
this is all relative to the working directory.
Students are often using lab computers with
network drives or flash drives, so it works
best if everything is relative to their
scripts directory.
Things are actually worse than this. Suppose
they try
store tempdata.gdt
open tempdata.gdt
Now `store` will store this in the working directory,
but `open` will first look relative to the script,
so if there is also a `tempdata.gdt` in `classfolder`scripts`
they will open that by mistake!
Hope that's illustrative,
It is, thanks. But wouldn't it be easier to have a structure of
coursefolder
projects
where projects/foo would contain foo.inp, foo.gdt and any other
relevant material? Then if you're working on project foo you just
set coursefolder/projects/foo as gretl's working directory and
you're not stumbling around in the dark.
A highly structured hierarchy such as you describe works fine if
you're running gretl from the command prompt in an xterm and have
the gretl working directory set to shadow the PWD, but on Windows
it seems like it's bound to make for an uphill struggle.
Allin
4:35 p.m.
On 9/25/2009 4:01 PM, Allin Cottrell wrote:
wouldn't it be easier to have a structure of
coursefolder
projects
where projects/foo would contain foo.inp, foo.gdt and any other
relevant material?
Yes, that has some advantages.
It has two disadvantages:
- projects cannot easily share data
- there is still the conflict between the path for store and the
path for open,
with a corresponding chance of serious error
I'm thinking that a 3rd working directory option (set working directory to
script directory on `run`) might be helpful ... ?
Thanks,
Alan
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