[Bioc-devel] The devel package repository and passing R CMD check

[Seth Falcon]

Greetings BioC developers,

This post is directed at all package maintainers/developers.

As the number of contributed packages grows in the Bioconductor
repository, it is important for developers to work together to make
use of existing code when possible.  This requires taking an active
role in seeking out collaborations and taking a slightly different
view of the devel repository.

A number of you have already formed fruitful collaborations that have
led to the use of standard data structures that are easier to use and
maintain.  I would like to encourage more of this, but it requires
treating the devel repository with more care.

If other developers are going to use your code, the head revision in
svn needs to be in working order as often as possible (this means
passing R CMD check, among other things).

So I would like to encourage the following:

* Before making an svn commit, test the changes you have made by
  running R CMD check and any other tests that you may have.  If there
  are any errors, don't commit.

* On a regular basis, take a look at the check results for your
  package: http://www.bioconductor.org/checkResults/1.9/

* If there are error messages that you cannot reproduce, send a note
  to this list and ask for some help (providing as much extra detail
  as possible).


Best Wishes,

+ seth