For reading and writing ascii text or data files: scan write read.table read.table.url read.fwf write.table dput dget count.fields
To edit or create a dataset in R using a spreadsheet like interface: data.entry dataentry
For saving an ascii copy of R output: sink
For outputting an R variable or function so it can be read back in R or Splus: dump
To read something produced in R or Splus that was output using dump: source
To save an entire workspace: save save.image
To load a previously saved workspace: load
There many buitin datasets in R. To see a list of them: data()
To load a builtin dataset like cars: data(cars)
To load a library like survival5: library(survival5)
To see all the builtin datasets in the library survival5: data(package="survival5")
To load a particular dataset from library survival5, first load the library and then to load for example leuck data: data(leuk)
All builtin datasets and datasets in libraries have detailed data documentation which is accessible by the help function. For example: help(cars)
Preliminary beta versions of library packages are available to import data directly from other software systems are available. See: foreign, RmSQL, RODBC.