# Save Simulation Results with Names as Hashes from the Parameters that Generated Them Saves RDS files to a specified folder with a name that is a hash generated from a list of parameters used for the simulation. There are a number of options that control the behavior, however, the default functionality likely covers 99% of use cases. ```r save_objects( folder, results, parameters_list = NULL, ignore_na = TRUE, alphabetical_order = TRUE, overwrite = FALSE, include_timestamp = TRUE, hash_includes_timestamp = FALSE, algo = "xxhash64", get_script_name = TRUE, ignore_script_name = FALSE, incremental = FALSE, silent = FALSE ) ``` ## Arguments - `folder`: Character string specifying the path to the directory where the objects will be saved. - `results`: The R object or list of objects to be saved. - `parameters_list`: A named list of arguments used to generate a unique hash for the file. - `ignore_na`: Logical. If `TRUE`, `NA` values in `parameters_list` are ignored during hash generation. - `alphabetical_order`: Logical. If `TRUE`, the names in `parameters_list` are sorted alphabetically before hash generation. - `overwrite`: Logical. If `TRUE`, existing files with the same hash will be overwritten. If `FALSE` and a conflict occurs, the results will be saved under a temporary hash. - `include_timestamp`: Logical. If `TRUE`, a timestamp is added to `parameters_list`. - `hash_includes_timestamp`: Logical. If `TRUE`, the timestamp is included in the hash generation. - `algo`: Character string specifying the hashing algorithm to use. Default is `"xxhash64"`. See `?digest` - `get_script_name`: Logical. If `TRUE`, attempts to get the script name and add it to `parameters_list`. Only works if script is run from command line, in an interactive session, this will always be `NULL`. - `ignore_script_name`: Logical. If `TRUE`, the script name is ignored during hash generation. - `incremental`: Logical. If `TRUE`, results are saved in a subfolder named after the hash and can be combined with `compress_incremental`. Note, if `TRUE`, no checks will be done for results that already exist, the user should check this in their script with `check_hash_existence`. - `silent`: Logical. If `TRUE`, no check is done that pairs of results files (parameters and associated results) is done. This check is not necessary, but done by default to keep the user aware of a scenario that usually results from manual file manipulation. ## Returns No return value. This function is called for its side effects. ## Details This function saves R objects to disk with a file name based on a generated hash of the provided arguments. It supports incremental saving, where multiple results can be saved under the same hash in a subdirectory and later collected. This can be helpful for a simulation that runs and saves results in parallel for the SAME set of simulation parameters. ## Examples ```r ## Setup tmp_dir <- file.path(tempdir(), "example") dir.create(tmp_dir) ## Example using parameter list to run simulation and save results parameters_list <- list( iterations = 1000, x_dist = "rnorm", x_dist_options = list(n = 10, mean = 1, sd = 2), error_dist = "rnorm", error_dist_options = list(n = 10, mean = 0, sd = 1), beta0 = 1, beta1 = 1 ) betas <- numeric(parameters_list$iterations) for (i in 1:parameters_list$iterations) { x <- do.call(parameters_list$x_dist, parameters_list$x_dist_options) err <- do.call(parameters_list$error_dist, parameters_list$error_dist_options) y <- parameters_list$beta0 + parameters_list$beta1*x + err betas[i] <- coef(lm(y ~ x))["x"] } save_objects(folder = tmp_dir, results = betas, parameters_list = parameters_list) ## Read back in (consider clearing environment before running) ## Re-setup tmp_dir <- file.path(tempdir(), "example") parameters_list <- list( iterations = 1000, x_dist = "rnorm", x_dist_options = list(n = 10, mean = 1, sd = 2), error_dist = "rnorm", error_dist_options = list(n = 10, mean = 0, sd = 1), beta0 = 1, beta1 = 1 ) betas <- read_objects(folder = tmp_dir, parameters_list = parameters_list) ## Cleanup unlink(tmp_dir, recursive = TRUE) ``` ## See Also `read_objects()`

save_objects function