[Rd] RFC: Add 'postinstall' hook to R CMD INSTALL ?

[Jeffrey Horner]

Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
> On Fri, 6 Jun 2008, Dirk Eddelbuettel wrote:
> 
>>
>> Brian,
>>
>> Thanks for the follow-up.
>>
>> On 6 June 2008 at 11:34, Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
>> | Isn't this what Type: Frontend is for?  That gives you complete control
>> | and would seem appropriate for both of your examples.
>>
>> Interesting.  But the R Extensions manual says
>>
>>   1.10.1 Frontend
>>   ---------------
>>
>>   This is a rather general mechanism, designed for adding new front-ends
>>   such as the *gnomeGUI* package.  If a `configure' file is found in the
>>   top-level directory of the package it is executed, and then if a
>>   `Makefile' is found (often generated by `configure'), `make' is called.
>>   If `R CMD INSTALL --clean' is used `make clean' is called.  No other
>>   action is taken.
>>
>> I am talking about the need for 'other action' such as 'make install', 
>> say.
>>
>> Are you suggesting I shoehorn what I want done into the main 'make' 
>> target ?
> 
> Yes.  I don't see it as 'shoehorn' -- it is the install step.


Indeed, most GNU software follow the convention of:

configure
make
make install

Surely `R CMD INSTALL` can be augmented to call `make install` as well 
if the `Makefile` is found.

Best

Jeff

> 
>>
>> | On Thu, 5 Jun 2008, Dirk Eddelbuettel wrote:
>> |
>> | >
>> | > I have been mulling over an idea I had meant to flesh out with a 
>> prototype
>> | > but haven't gotten around to.   So here it goes in the abstract 
>> without
>> | > working code:
>> | >
>> | >
>> | > What:  Extend 'R CMD INSTALL' to also work on sources that are not 
>> strictly
>> | >       CRAN packages
>> | >
>> | > Why:  'R CMD INSTALL' is very good and very successful for CRAN 
>> packages. It
>> | >      has solved most issues related to configure, make, ... etc by 
>> relying
>> | >      on pre-computed and stored values.
>> | >
>> | >      CRAN is also very good as a mirror network to distribute 
>> content that
>> | >      is easy to obtain by useRs.
>> | >
>> | >      So there are cases where I'd like to use CRAN / R CMD INSTALL 
>> to work
>> | >      on non-package code. Two case are
>> | >
>> | >        i)  littler which is easy to 'configure; make; make 
>> install' but
>> | >            would want to live in $PREFIX/bin -- and I need to copy 
>> it there
>> | >
>> | >        ii) RCpp which is a library / glue code making live easier 
>> for C++
>> | >          code to interface with R; also easy to configure but I'd 
>> then
>> | >          libRcpp.{so,a} to be in $PREFIX/bin -- and I need to copy it
>> | >         there
>> |
>> | I hope not in 'bin' -- I am not sure if you mean $PREFIX/lib[64] or
>> | $R_HOME/lib?
>>
>> Yes, cut&paste error. $PREFIX/lib is of course what I had in mind.
>>
>> Other cases that may profit from this are
>>
>>           iii)  Some other 'content' such as CRANberries or the cran2deb
>>              efforts could use it to synchronise / update SQLite database
>>              files in agreed upon locations.
>>
>>        iv)  Web-based R add-ons could possibly use this mechanism to hook
>>           into the web server.
>>
>> Dirk
>>
>> | > How:  Similar to 'cleanup' we could have a script 'postinstall' in 
>> the
>> | >      top-level directory, and if present, R would execute it.
>> | >
>> | >
>> | > As I'm the one with the itch, I'd be happy to work on code towards
>> | > implementing this -- but before I go overboard with it, I'd love 
>> to hear
>> | > comments, suggestions, questions, ...  It is worthwhile? Is it 
>> feasible?
>> | > What did I overlook?
>> | >
>> | > Thanks, Dirk
>> | >
>> | > --
>> | > Three out of two people have difficulties with fractions.
>> | >
>> | > ______________________________________________
>> | > R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
>> | > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>> | >
>> |
>> | --
>> | 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
>>
>> -- 
>> Three out of two people have difficulties with fractions.
>>
> 


-- 
http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/JeffreyHorner