[R] writing a simple package in R 2.0 under Windows XP

[H Patrick Giraudoux]

Dear all,

Following John Fox and Brian Ripley instructions, things come better.  I 
still get errors but they just come at the first step from unappropriate 
DESCRIPTION file (which was expected: I just wanted to check if the 
software installation was OK for building packages with the "crude" 
AnExample from the package.skeleton() doc. I can "quitely" come back to the 
"Writing R extension guide" and work on it now).

One mishaps that can be worthy to bold for other listers is that I did not 
select the installation of the source package tools in an early 
installation of R (it is unselected by default with rw2000.exe). Advised to 
re-install R taking this into account for those who gradually try to move 
from function development to package writing...

Thanks for the hints kindly provided even a Sunday,

Patrick Giraudoux



A 10:24 07/11/2004 -0500, vous avez écrit :
>Dear Patrick,
>
>I've prepared some basic instructions and a batch file for building simple
>packages under Windows and have given them to several people who have
>experienced problems. I've hesitated to send them to this list since they
>really just duplicate information available elsewhere, and because the batch
>file probably could be improved.
>
>Since there has been a rash of Windows package-building problems recently
>(probably because it's no longer possible to bypass the package-building
>tools), I've appended the instructions and batch file to this message in the
>hope that they prove useful. Of course, comments and suggestions for
>improvement are appreciated.
>
>Regards,
>  John
>
>-------------- snip ------------
>
>Building Simple Packages Under R for Windows
>
>1. Links to tools and additional information are at
><http://www.murdoch-sutherland.com/Rtools/>.
>
>2. Make sure R is *not* installed under c:\Program Files (or in any location
>with spaces in the path) and that it is installed with package-building
>tools. I use c:\R for the installation; I'll assume this below -- make
>changes as necessary.
>
>3. Download <http://www.murdoch-sutherland.com/Rtools/tools.zip> and unzip
>e.g. to c:\Program Files\Utilities; put this directory at the beginning of
>the path. (It may be necessary to copy sh.exe to c:\bin\sh.exe.)
>
>4. Download Perl from
><http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/Download.html> and install
>it using defaults.
>
>5. Download fptex from
><http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/systems/win32/fptex/current/TeXSetup.exe>
>and install it. Note: This requires a fast internet connection during the
>installation. Don't install latex under c:\Program Files\!
>
>6. Download HTML Help Workshop from
><http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/htmlhelp/h
>tml/hwmicrosofthtmlhelpdownloads.asp> and install it. Add c:\Program
>Files\HTML Help Workshop to the path.
>
>7. If you want to be able to compile old-style Windows help files (probably
>not necessary) download Microsoft Help Workshop
><ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/hcwsetup.exe> and install it. Add
>c:\Program Files\Help Workshop to the path.
>
>8. Put my file make-package.bat in c:\R\rwxxxx\src (where xxxx is the
>version, e.g., 2000). If necessary, edit this file to reflect the location
>of the R installation.
>
>9. Open a DOS (command) window. CD to R\rwxxxx\src. Make sure that the
>package source files are in the directory package-name under
>R\rwxxx\src\library. Enter make-package package-name. Carefully examine the
>log file etc.
>
>10. After this process is completed, you'll have both a tar.gz file with the
>source package and a .zip file with the Windows binary package. Install the
>latter from the "Packages -> Install package(s) from local zip files" menu
>in the normal manner.
>
>-------------- make-package.bat ------------
>
>cd c:\R\rw2000\src\library
>del %1\INDEX
>del %1\data\00Index
>del %1\chm\*.* /Q
>
>..\..\bin\R CMD build --force --binary --auto-zip %1
>..\..\bin\R CMD build --force %1
>..\..\bin\R CMD check %1
>
>cd %1.Rcheck
>dvipdfm %1-manual
>
>notepad 00check.log