[R] Warnings with no INDEX file in a package.

[David Kane <David Kane]

In previous versions of R (at least in 1.5.1, I think), my practice was not to
include an INDEX file in the package. R CMD check did not complain and an INDEX
was created for me when I use R CMD build.

At least, this is how I remember it. I thought that this was a good way to
behave since it ensured that my INDEX was automatically kept up to date by R,
without me having to worry about what functions I had added to the package. I
can understand why other people might want to maintain an INDEX themselves
(mainly because it allows one to avoid listing functions that aren't that
interesting and/or are meant for internal use by the package only).

In 1.6.1, however, runing R CMD check on a package with no INDEX gives me:

* checking index files ... WARNING
The following index files are missing or have zero length:
  INDEX
See the information on INDEX files and package subdirectories in section
'Creating R packages' of the 'Writing R Extensions' manual.
* checking R files for syntax errors ... OK

I have read the suggested sections of the manual. It would seem to me that I
should be able to continue to follow my prior practice by turning off the
warning for missing INDEX. Certainly, the fact that R CMD build creates an
INDEX for you if one is not present would suggest that this is an acceptable
practice.

Or am I missing something? I just hate to ignore a warning each time I build a
package . . .

Thanks,

Dave Kane

> R.version
         _                   
platform sparc-sun-solaris2.6
arch     sparc               
os       solaris2.6          
system   sparc, solaris2.6   
status                       
major    1                   
minor    6.1                 
year     2002                
month    11                  
day      01                  
language R                   
> 

-- 
David Kane
Geode Capital Management
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david.d.kane at fmr.com
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