Read the most recent file in a folder — read

Combines latest_file() with a file reader to load the most recent file matching a pattern. Automatically detects file type and uses the appropriate reader.

Usage

read_latest(path, pattern = NULL, recursive = FALSE, reader = NULL, ...)

Arguments

path: Directory path to search in.
pattern: Regular expression pattern to filter files. Default NULL matches all files.
recursive: Logical. If TRUE, searches subdirectories. Default FALSE.
reader: Function to read the file. Default NULL auto-detects based on file extension (supports .csv, .rds, .rda).
...: Additional arguments passed to the reader function.

Value

The contents of the most recent file, or NULL if no matching files found.

Details

Auto-detection supports these file types:

.csv: Uses utils::read.csv()
.rds: Uses readRDS()
.rda/.RData: Uses load() and returns the first object

For other file types or custom reading behavior, provide a reader function.

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# Read the most recent CSV
df <- read_latest("data/exports", pattern = "\\.csv$")

# Read with custom options
df <- read_latest("data/exports", pattern = "\\.csv$",
                  stringsAsFactors = FALSE)

# Use a custom reader
df <- read_latest("data/exports", pattern = "\\.xlsx$",
                  reader = readxl::read_excel)
} # }