[Rd] advice on writing/maintaining an R package with a version control system

[Simon Urbanek]

On Sep 16, 2010, at 10:06 AM, Vinh Nguyen wrote:

> Dear all,
> 
> As I resume my dissertation work next month, I'd like to actually
> start an R package this time around.  I haven't done so because I
> update my code very often (still in development phase), so running the
> skeleton function, running checks, building, and re-installing the
> package onto the system seemed like a long and tedious process.
> 

I guess it depends on the package, but in general I find it's so fast that it's not worth bothering with the alternatives. It's just one line to build, install a package and run the desired test code. The time to do that is usually in single-digit seconds which I'm happy with.


> I would like to hear your experience on how you start an R package
> with a version control system.  Currently, I have most of my functions
> in an R source file.  I expect to use a skeleton function to generate
> the package directory (most likely Rcpp's), and start git as my
> version control system (although the advice I'm seeking isn't
> git-specific).  Once the version control system is set up, a few
> questions:
> 
> 1.  Do you update your code directly into the multiple R files in
> ./src, or do you update the main R source file?

I suspect you mean ./R not ./src if it's an R source file. Personally, I group functions by topic into files, some others put one function per file - it's all about personal preferences because the installed package won't have any of the files you're using so technically it doesn't matter.


>  I'm assuming the
> former since we're using version control.
> 2.  What is your process for updating and testing your code?  Do you
> run checks, build, and re-install the package to test?  Or do you have
> some fancy workflow?  Please share.
> 

I just run
R CMD build xxx && R CMD INSTALL xxx && R
sometimes also including the test code in the last R call so running it requires pressing only two keys. Once I'm happy that the stuff seems to work I run the checks and then commit. (If I'm confident I commit right away since I use SVN and my RForge does run checks on commit so I don't have to bother doing that - it also checks on a different system which is good in case you forgot to add files to the VCS).

If you have large or complex packages, it may be useful to just change a function at a time in the interactive session -- but that's trivial as you simply send the assignment from your editor. (Some tricks may be needed if namespaces are involved but they are usually simple ways around).

Just my very personal $0.02.

Cheers,
Simon




> Thanks for your advice.
> 
> Vinh
> --
> Vinh Nguyen
> Department of Statistics
> Donald Bren School of ICS
> 2231 Bren Hall
> University of California, Irvine
> Irvine, CA 92607
> vqnguyen at uci.edu | http://www.ics.uci.edu/~vqnguyen/
> Schedule a meeting: http://tungle.me/VinhNguyen
> 
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