Ensure the parent directory of a file exists — .ensure

Internal helper confirming that the directory holding a file exists before anything writes to it. Used by save_output(), .append_accumulator_row(), generate_manifest() and qmd_to_r().

Usage

.ensure_directory(file_path)

Arguments

file_path: Character. The path whose parent directory is checked.

Value

The directory path, invisibly.

Details

The functions that do the writing error unhelpfully on a missing directory. saveRDS() and knitr::purl() both fail through a connection, naming the file rather than the directory that is actually absent, which sends the reader looking in the wrong place.

Missing directories are created rather than reported as an error, since the callers are expected to run unattended on a cluster where nobody is available to intervene. Creation is announced through cli so that the action leaves a trace in the job log, whether or not anyone is watching at the time. A bare filename resolves to ".", which always exists, so no message is emitted in that case.