Installation and Setup • macro

The macro package can be used interactively in RStudio®. First, it requires a basic package install.

Package Install

You can install the macro package by executing the following command in the R console:

install.packages("macro")

Upon completion of the install, the macro package will be available for use in scripts and programs. To enhance the user experience, it is recommended that you set up the package for interactive use in your IDE. The subsequent instructions explain how.

The macro package contains an Addin menu to facilitate interactive use. The addin menu should be available in RStudio upon basic installation.

First, check that you see the macro package menu items in your “Addins” drop-down:

Macro Addin Menu

There are two menus on the Addin:

Macro Source: Calls the function runMSource(). This function is specially built for the Addin menu. It runs the msource() function in normal mode, but with the “clear” parameter set to FALSE and the “envir” parameter set to the global environment.
Macro Source with Debug: Calls the function runMSourceDebug(). This function runs msource() in debug mode. The “debug” and “symbolgen” parameters are set to TRUE, and the “clear” and “envir” parameters are set the same as above.

You may use the above menus any time by navigating to the Addin menu with your mouse. However, the reason the Addin menus have been included in the package is so that they can be tied to keyboard shortcuts. The keyboard shortcuts can greatly improve efficiency in using the package.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Setting up keyboard shortcuts may be somewhat different depending what operating system you are using. The instructions and images below are for RStudio on Windows. Please adjust the instructions as appropriate for your operating system.

To connect keyboard shortcuts to the macro package Addin menu, take the following steps:

Go to the Tools -> Modify Keyboard Shortcuts menu.
Type the word “macro” on the search bar.
On the “Macro Source” row, put your cursor in the “Shortcut” column and press the “Ctrl” key and the “m” key. Then on the “Macro Source with Debug” row, put your cursor in the “Shortcut” column and press the “Ctrl” key and the “d” key.
Press the “Apply” button and close the shortcuts dialog.

The macro package shortcuts are now enabled in your IDE.

Test Interactive Usage

To test your shortcuts, open a new R script file, and type the following:

#%let x <- Hello World!
print("&x")

Then select the above code, and press Ctrl+m. You should see “Hello World!” appear in your console:

Run Macro Hello World!

Next, select the above code again, and press Ctrl+d. The debug output should appear in the console:

Run Macro Hello World! with debug

As a final test, don’t select any code and press Ctrl+m again. The function should run the entire script, and produce the same results as above.

Now your environment is set up to use the macro package interactively. Enjoy!