File Option

The File option lets the user select one or more files from their computer for the analysis to read, such as a stimulus list, a custom lexicon, etc.

Available in jamovi 28.3 and newer. Declare this in your module’s 0000.yaml using minApp, so jamovi prevents installation on older versions that don’t support it:

minApp: 28.3.0

Description

In the jamovi UI, a File option is represented by a Browse… button and a list of the file(s) currently selected. Whichever platform, the chosen file is copied into the user’s session before the R process reads it. The file is written into the .omv when the analysis is saved, so it’s still there when the file is re-opened later.

YAML Properties

Property	Type	Description
`name`	string	The unique name of the option.
`type`	string	Must be `File`.
`title`	string	The label displayed in the UI.
`hidden`	boolean	(optional) Hides the control from the UI. Defaults to `false`.
`multiple`	boolean	(optional) Allows more than one file to be selected. Defaults to `false`.
`extensions`	array	(optional) A list of file extensions (without the dot) used to filter the file browser, e.g. `[csv, txt]`.
`description`	string	(optional) A description of the option, shown to the user as help text.

R Implementation

In R, a File option is represented as a list with path and filename elements, or NULL if nothing has been selected. When multiple is true, the value is a list of such entries instead (an empty list() when nothing is selected).

path is the location of the file’s copy in the session, and filename is the file’s original name.

Examples

1. Define in YAML

- name: lexicon
  type: File
  title: Lexicon
  extensions:
    - csv
    - txt

2. Implementation in R

file <- self$options$lexicon

if ( ! is.null(file)) {
    data <- read.csv(file$path)

    # ...
}

With multiple: true, iterate over the list of files instead:

for (file in self$options$lexicons) {
    data <- read.csv(file$path)

    # ...
}