[R-pkg-devel] Handling Not-Always-Needed Dependencies? - Part 2

[Paul Gilbert]

(One question from the thread Handling Not-Always-Needed Dependencies?)

I hope not to start another long tangled thread, but I have a basic 
confusion which I think has a yes/no answer and I would like to know if 
there is agreement on this point (or is it only me that is confused as 
usual).

If my package has a test that needs another package, but that package is 
not needed in the /R code of my package, then I indicate it as 
"Suggests", not as "Depends" nor as "Imports".  If that package is not 
available when I run R CMD check, should the test pass?

Yes or no:  ?

(I realize my own answer might be different if the package was used in 
an example or demo in place of a test, but that is just the confusion 
caused by too many uses for Suggests. In the case of a test, my own 
thought is that the test must fail, so my own answer is no. If the test 
does not fail then there is no real testing being done, thus missing 
code coverage in the testing. If the answer is no, then the tests do not 
need to be run if the package is not available, because it is known that 
they must fail. I think that not bothering to run the tests because the 
result is known is even more efficient than other suggestions. I also 
think it is the status quo.)

Hoping my confusion is cleared up, and this does not become another long 
tangled thread,
Paul