[Rd] configuration and installation of R packages with C/C++ library dependencies.

[Prof Brian Ripley]

On Tue, 20 Sep 2005, Witold Eryk Wolski wrote:

Please ask R development questions on the R list and not cross-post.

> Dear R-developers, Bioc-developers,
>
> I am working on an R package which provides a R binding to a C library, which 
> again depends on two other "non-standard" C++ libraries.
> I have this libraries installed on my box of course and I specified the 
> library location in the Makevars file.
>
> However I thinking about to make the package available to other users and 
> wonder
>
> a) Where I should provide the information which C++ libraries must be 
> installed on the computer? README/ DESCRIPTION file?

As stated in `Writing R Extensions': the SystemRequirements field in 
DESCRIPTION or a README file.

> b) The library location on other users computers will be in a different place 
> than specified by me in the Makevars file.  What mechanism of finding out the 
> library locations, or prompting the user to specify them are integrated in 
> the package installation procedure?

As stated in `Writing R Extensions' section 1.2: use a configure file.

> c) Which packages available on CRAN or BioConductor are *good* practice 
> examples?

Several, e.g. RODBC (which is used as an example in `Writing R 
Extensions', section 1.2).


Did we mention this was all in `Writing R Extensions'?

-- 
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272866 (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595