Add option usethis.destdir (#1033)

Fixes #1015

R/course.R

@@ -19,7 +19,10 @@
 #'       [create_download_url()] help create such URLs for GitHub, DropBox,
 #'       and Google Drive.
 #' @param destdir The new folder is stored here. If `NULL`, defaults to user's
-#'   Desktop or some other conspicuous place.
+#'   Desktop or some other conspicuous place. You can also set a default
+#'   location using the option `usethis.destdir`, e.g.
+#'   `options(usethis.destdir = "a/good/dir")`, perhaps saved to your
+#'   `.Rprofile` with [`edit_r_profile()`]
 #' @param cleanup Whether to delete the original ZIP file after unpacking its
 #'   contents. In an interactive setting, `NA` leads to a menu where user can
 #'   approve the deletion (or decline).
@@ -54,7 +57,7 @@ NULL
 #'   launched. Otherwise, the folder is opened in the file manager, e.g. Finder
 #'   or File Explorer.
 #' @export
-use_course <- function(url, destdir = NULL) {
+use_course <- function(url, destdir = getOption("usethis.destdir")) {
   url <- normalize_url(url)
   destdir_not_specified <- is.null(destdir)
   destdir <- user_path_prep(destdir %||% conspicuous_place())
@@ -112,7 +115,8 @@ use_zip <- function(url,
 #' # as called inside use_course()
 #' tidy_download(
 #'   url, ## after post-processing with normalize_url()
-#'   # conspicuous_place() = Desktop or home directory or working directory
+#'   # conspicuous_place() = `getOption('usethis.destdir')` or desktop or home
+#'   # directory or working directory
 #'   destdir = destdir %||% conspicuous_place()
 #' )
 #' ```
@@ -404,6 +408,9 @@ expand_github <- function(url) {
 }
 
 conspicuous_place <- function() {
+  destdir_opt <- getOption("usethis.destdir")
+  if (!is.null(destdir_opt)) return(path_tidy(destdir_opt))
+
   Filter(dir_exists, c(
     path_home("Desktop"),
     path_home(),

tests/testthat/test-use-course.R

@@ -138,6 +138,14 @@ test_that("conspicuous_place() returns a writeable directory", {
   expect_true(file_access(x, mode = "write"))
 })
 
+test_that("conspicuous_place() uses `usethis.destdir` when set", {
+  tdestdir_temp <- path(tempdir(), "destdir_temp")
+  dir_create(tdestdir_temp)
+  withr::local_options(list(usethis.destdir = tdestdir_temp))
+  expect_error_free(x <- conspicuous_place())
+  expect_equal(path(tdestdir_temp), x)
+})
+
 test_that("check_is_zip() errors if MIME type is not 'application/zip'", {
   skip("work this into a use_course test")
   skip_on_cran()

vignettes/articles/usethis-setup.Rmd

@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ Certain options are consulted by usethis and allow you to set personal defaults:
     Git. Either "ssh" or "https". See the help for `git_protocol()` for more.
   * `usethis.description`: named list of default DESCRIPTION fields for new
     packages made with `usethis::create_package()`.
+  * `usethis.quiet`: if `TRUE`, prevent usethis from printing messages to the console.
+  * `usethis.destdir`: a default directory to use in `create_from_github()` and `use_course()`
 
 Define any of these options in your `.Rprofile`, which can be opened for editing via `usethis::edit_r_profile()`. Here is example code: