[R] library() - Error: Package foo was built for Win32

[Henrik Bengtsson]

>From R v1.6.0 there has been a new test added to the library() code.
This test is performed when library() is ran on a "unix" system and it
verifies that the "Built" platform (from the DESCRIPTION file) is
"compatible" with the current platform. Here is the code extract from
the local function testRversion() of library() that I am talking about:

            if (.Platform$OS.type == "unix") {
                platform <- builtFields[2]
                m <- agrep(platform, R.version$platform)
                if (!length(m)) 
                  stop(paste("package", fields[1, "Package"], 
                    "was built for", platform), call. = FALSE)
            }

For example, I have built a package using pure (100%) R code, which
should be able to run anywhere. However, since the "Built" line in my
DESCRIPTION says

  Built: R 1.5.1;  Win32;  2002-11-11 10:44:35

It won't pass this test on a unix machine, e.g. OSX. Unfortunately, at
the place I am the next few months I have no way of testing
compatibility issues under Unix etc and learning more about this myself.
However, I can not see the reason for this test at this step in the
loading of a package? I would understand the test if the package loaded
relies on native code etc, but not for packages written in pure R. An
answer would most likely enlighten me or maybe suggest a less "brutal"
test.

My current idea for a workaround of this problem is simply to replace
the "Win32" string in  "Built: R 1.5.1;  Win32;  2002-11-11 10:44:35"
with something else for the *.tar.gz package.
What should this something be for "unix" systems? Would this be an ok
approach?

Thank you!

Henrik Bengtsson

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