Errors are the way of life in any programming language. You might’ve written the perfect program or script functionally, but one missing bracket, semicolon or variable will mess things up and leave you scratching your head for hours on end. 

In this article, we’re looking at the “error in file rt” issue in the R programming language, why it happens, and what you can do to fix the error. 

What causes this error?

The error you’re seeing is a basic R file access error. The initial part of the error message indicates that the failure is within the low-level function used to open a specific Excel or R code file at the specified location. It’s often triggered by an R code file system issue which results in a corrupt file path reference. 

Also read: Python vs R: Which one is better?

How to fix this?

While the specifics of the fix rely slightly on what version or package of R you’re using, the missing value and the exact command, the problem is the same — R can’t find your file. 

Set the correct working directory

Since it’s most likely an issue with how you’re referring to your current working directory, we suggest using the setwd() function to establish where you’re expecting the working directory.

Check your file references

Relative R file references could also be triggering the problem. Make sure that you’re using “../” for specifying files in the parent directory.

Check for corrupted files and data suffixes

Lastly, check your data file suffixes to ensure that the files you’re trying to access aren’t corrupted. If the files have incorrect suffixes or are corrupted, R will not access them, throwing this error in return.

Also read: How to flatten a list and list of lists in Python?