Create a default comment header template in R?

Is it possible to create a default comment header template in R for all new scripts? I generally include some standard info at the top of all my scripts and would like to automate the process of creating the comment header. For example:

################################################## ## Project: ## Script purpose: ## Date: ## Author: ################################################## 

Assuming you are using rstudio (R and rstudio are independent pieces of software), you may have a look at the relatively new code snippets feature in rstudio, outlined here. It is not exactly right, but might get you pretty close.

Thanks! I think this is actually a better option since it will allow me to make (and easily insert) comment headers with different formats (e.g. for function scripts, cleanup scripts, shiny apps, etc)

3 Answers 3

Following the suggestion from @lmo above, I created two new code snippets in RStudio by editing the snippets file located at Preferences > Code > Edit Snippets

Note: Code below the snippet definition must be indented using tab and not two spaces

Snippet 1: Comment header for new scripts

snippet header_script ################################################## ## Project: ## Script purpose: ## Date: ## Author: ################################################## 

Snippet 2: Comment header for sections of code within a script:

snippet header_section ## Section: ################################################## 

Now, whenever I want to insert a given header, I just start typing the snippet name (e.g. header_script ), select it from the autocomplete menu (do not type out in full), and hit enter to insert the comment header.