How to configure output directory when running coverage

[dgkf]

@dgkf, this should probably be a separate issue, but does riskmetric::pkg_assess(., source = 'pkg_source') allow users to configure where these <pkg>-tests/ folders get dropped? Seems as though the default is getwd().

Originally posted by @aclark02-arcus in #388

[dgkf]

@aclark02-arcus - Unfortunately not. Thanks for highlighting it - I think we should generally aim to reduce side effects like these. This example is a result of running coverage using tools::testInstalledPackage, which takes "." as its default outDir.

In val.meter I've been bumping up against this same problem and have opted to have temp directories for side effects by default.

But I assume either waiting for val.meter to reach feature parity or contributing a feature like this might be out-of-scope. In the interim, you may consider running packages from a directory where you don't mind the clutter.

[aclark02-arcus]

Leveraging tempdirs for "side effects" make sense.

For non-side effects, let's try to stay consistent for any applicable {val.*} tools when it comes to where we produce output. @llrs-roche & team leveraged options() for riskreports output, which isn't a bad approach:

options(riskreports_output_dir = 'file/path/to/output/dir/')

Since val.pipeline is a highly evidence-based process, traceability is important, so it's trying to store as much as possible whilst staying organized. Right now, I'm using a single out function argument, but I could move to an option() if that's preferred.