[R] local source packages install from within R session - cross-platform

[Prof Brian Ripley]

It is pkgType="source", not method="source".  (What the default is on your 
platform depends on the version of R you are using: 'OS X' is presumably 
MacOS, but there are several different builds for MacOS with different 
defaults.)

If used as documented, install.packages() does install from package source 
tarballs on all platforms.  So does R CMD INSTALL tarball.tar.gz.

On Fri, 9 Dec 2005, Ken Termiso wrote:

> I realize that others have struggled with this issue...i.e.
> http://tolstoy.newcastle.edu.au/~rking/R/help/05/01/9826.html

That's a long time ago: there have been three R releases since then with a 
fourth imminent.  Package management changed a lot in 2.1.0 released in 
April 2005.  The article in the May R-News should help.

> i would like to be able to install downloaded source (tar.gz'd) files from
> within an R session, and have it work in a X-platform way..i am often not
> connected to the internet and have libraries that i would like to be able to
> install in an automated way..
>
> i've tried several things:
>
> 1)
> install.packages("hs95av2hs3ug6cdf_6.0.0.tar.gz", repos=NULL,
> method="source")
> Error in gzfile(file, "r") : unable to open connection
> In addition: Warning message:
> cannot open compressed file 'hs95av2hs3ug6cdf_6.0.0.tar.gz/DESCRIPTION'
>
>> traceback()
> 5: gzfile(file, "r")
> 4: read.dcf(file.path(curPkg, "DESCRIPTION"), c("Package", "Version"))
> 3: unpackPkg(pkgs[i], pkgnames[i], lib, installWithVers)
> 2: .install.macbinary(pkgs = pkgs, lib = lib, contriburl = contriburl,
>       method = method, available = available, destdir = destdir,
>       installWithVers = installWithVers, dependencies = dependencies)
> 1: install.packages("hs95av2hs3ug6cdf_6.0.0.tar.gz", repos = NULL,
>       method = "source")
>
>
> 2) the code in the above thread doesn't work for me on OS X..
> file.pkg <- "hs95av2hs3ug6cdf_6.0.0.tar.gz"
> path.pkg <- file.path(getwd(), file.pkg)
> pkg_path <- paste("file://", path.pkg, sep = "")
> install.packages("hs95av2hs3ug6cdf_6.0.0", contriburl=pkg_path, lib =
> Sys.getenv("R_LIBS"))
>
> Error in gzfile(file, "r") : unable to open connection
> In addition: Warning message:
> cannot open compressed file
> '/Users/ken/Desktop/hs95av2hs3ug6cdf_6.0.0.tar.gz/PACKAGES'
>
>> traceback()
> 5: gzfile(file, "r")
> 4: read.dcf(file = tmpf, fields = flds)
> 3: available.packages(contriburl = contriburl, method = method)
> 2: .install.macbinary(pkgs = pkgs, lib = lib, contriburl = contriburl,
>       method = method, available = available, destdir = destdir,
>       installWithVers = installWithVers, dependencies = dependencies)
> 1: install.packages("hs95av2hs3ug6cdf_6.0.0", contriburl = pkg_path,
>       lib = Sys.getenv("R_LIBS"))
>
>
> *with both of those, things get screwy with gzfile(), but calling it
> directly on the file is fine..
>
>> gzfile("hs95av2hs3ug6cdf_6.0.0.tar.gz")
>                    description                           class
>               mode
> "hs95av2hs3ug6cdf_6.0.0.tar.gz"                        "gzfile"
>              "rb6"
>                           text                          opened
>           can read
>                         "text"                        "closed"
>              "yes"
>                      can write
>                          "yes"
>
>
>
>
> 3) i tinkered with the installLocalPackages() from sciViews library...
>
> "installLocalPackages" <-
>
> function(basedir = "d:/R", url = paste("file:",
>
> 	basedir, "/bin/windows/contrib", sep = "")) {
>
> 	# Install one or several packages from a local source
>
> 	if (.Platform$OS.type != "windows")
>
> 		stop("This function is for Windows only! Use install.packages instead.")
>
> 	localurl <- (length(grep("^file:", url)) > 0)
>
> 	if (!localurl)
>
>        stop("installLocalPackages can only install local packages. Use
> install.packages to install accross the internet")
>
> 	a <- CRAN.packages(contriburl = url)
>
> 	pkgs <- select.list(a[, 1], , TRUE)
>
> 	if (length(pkgs) == 0 || pkgs[1] == "")	# The user cancelled the list
>
> 		return(invisible(NULL))
>
> 	lib <- .libPaths()[1]
>
>    # Install those selected packages
>
>    install.packages(pkgs, lib, CRAN = NULL)
>
> 	invisible()
>
> }
>
>
>
> this was my final version before i quit -
>
> "installLocalPackages" <-
>
> function(url = paste("file:/",
>
> 	basedir, sep = ""), basedir = file.path(getwd()), localPkg) {
>
> 	# Install one or several packages from a local source
>
> 	localurl <- (length(grep("^file:", url)) > 0)
>
> 	if (!localurl)
>
>        stop("installLocalPackages can only install local packages. Use
> install.packages to install accross the internet")
>
> #	a <- available.packages(contriburl = url)
>
> #	pkgs <- select.list(a[, 1], , TRUE)
>
> #	if (length(pkgs) == 0 || pkgs[1] == "")	# The user cancelled the list
>
> #		return(invisible(NULL))
>
> 	lib <- .libPaths()[1]
>
>    # Install those selected packages
>
>    install.packages(localPkg, lib, CRAN = NULL)
>
> 	invisible()
>
> }
>
>
>
> ideally, i would like to have installLocalPackages() work in a X-platform
> way with NO gui; i would like it to accept either a single .tar.gz or
> several at a time...
>
> any help would be much appreciated - i'm out of ideas...
>
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-- 
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