[Rd] compiling R from source with a catch!

[Prof Brian Ripley]

On 25/06/2013 22:54, Anwar Ludin wrote:
> I need to rebuild an R interpreter for the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor which can be considered as an embedded system.
>
> My only option is to use the intel compiler tools and cross compile the interpreter. My first stumbling block is that I don't have a fortran cross compiler and I would like to know if it's possible to build a minimal R system
> without the need of a  fortran compiler.

No.  But it is possible to use f2c as a substitute Fortran compiler. 
This was tested just prior to the release of R 3.0.0 to demonstrate that 
R could be built using just 'clang'.

> At the moment I've used the following options with the configure script:
>
> ./configure --host=x86_64 --enable-R-static-lib CXX=icpc CC=icc CFLAGS=-mmic CXXFLAGS=-mmic LDFLAGS=-mmic --with-readline=no --without-recommended-packages
>
> icpc and icc are the intel compilers.
> -mmic tells the compiler to cross compile for the Intel Xeon Phi.
>
> The configure script stops with the following error:
>
> checking for dummy main to link with Fortran 77 libraries... none
> checking for Fortran 77 name-mangling scheme... unknown
> configure: WARNING: unknown Fortran name-mangling scheme
> checking whether gfortran appends underscores to external names... unknown
> configure: error: cannot use Fortran
>
> Do I actually need Fortran in order to build the R interpreter?
>
> Any suggestions on how to move forwards would be greatly appreciated!

Suggestion: study the manual.  To quote the INSTALL file

'The main source of information on installation is the `R Installation
and Administration Manual', an HTML copy of which is available as file
`doc/html/R-admin.html'.  Please read that before installing R.  But
if you are impatient, read on but please refer to the manual to
resolve any problems.'

It supplies some important information if you use f2c.

-- 
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