[R-pkg-devel] First R package, want to release to CRAN, have some questions about R CMD check and README.md

[Jeff Newmiller]

My opinion is that vignettes make or break the uptake of a package... but they are not mandatory.

I like to have a 'dev' directory where I keep meta-files like README.Rmd... of course that gets listed in .Rbuildignore also.

I don't know about oysteR.Rmd. There are approved ways to have vignettes compiled as part of your package, but AFAIK that is not required.

On March 7, 2020 3:05:01 PM PST, Jeffry Hesse <jhesse using sonatype.com> wrote:
>Good to know!
>
>Right now we are using the README.rmd file to create the README.md, I
>imagine we'd create something akin to oysteR.rmd to create the
>vignette?
>The documentation on publishing to CRAN is great, but it's hard to tell
>what a best practice is in this area. Also are vignettes strongly
>suggested
>or mandatory? R CMD check is not failing for us right now without
>having
>them, hence the question!
>
>Appreciate the help!
>
>On Sat, Mar 7, 2020 at 1:55 PM Jeff Newmiller
><jdnewmil using dcn.davis.ca.us>
>wrote:
>
>> README.md is a github convention... do not try to treat it like part
>of
>> the R package documentation. Instead, list it in your .Rbuildignore
>file
>> and use it to inform developers how to change the package and to
>direct
>> (potential) users browsing the GitHub repo to read the more
>conventional R
>> documentation of vignettes.
>>
>> On March 7, 2020 1:55:24 PM PST, Jeffry Hesse <jhesse using sonatype.com>
>wrote:
>> >Hi there!
>> >
>> >I and a few others have been working on an R package we'd like to
>get
>> >on
>> >CRAN. The package itself checks R dependencies to see if they have a
>> >known
>> >CWE or CVE attached to them, and is intended to help R developers
>get a
>> >better understanding on the quality of the dependencies they use!
>> >
>> >An example of it running is here:
>> >
>> >
>>
>https://61-244738782-gh.circle-artifacts.com/0/~/oysteR/oysteR.Rcheck/00install.out
>> >
>> >And example of the output of R CMD check is here:
>> >
>> >
>>
>https://61-244738782-gh.circle-artifacts.com/0/~/oysteR/oysteR.Rcheck/00check.log
>> >
>> >I have had some confusing experiences thus far with a README.md
>file,
>> >and
>> >excluded it in our .Rbuildignore, because I kept getting:
>> >
>> >* checking top-level files ... WARNING
>> >Conversion of ‘README.md’ failed:
>> >"template" (line 18, column 17):
>> >unexpected "("
>> >expecting "." or "$"
>> >
>> >This error is very cryptic to me, and I couldn't figure it out after
>a
>> >bunch of wonderful googling :)
>> >
>> >The README.rmd file is here:
>>
>>https://github.com/sonatype-nexus-community/oysteR/blob/master/README.Rmd
>> >
>> >Output README.md generated with rmarkdown is here:
>> >
>>
>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sonatype-nexus-community/oysteR/master/README.md
>> >
>> >Ideally I think it would be nice to include it in our R package, but
>> >that
>> >WARNING keeps scaring me :)
>> >
>> >If anyone has any insight into the cause of that warning, would love
>to
>> >know.
>> >
>> >Any other feedback on the package would be great too! I'm not an R
>> >developer by trade (but love it), and this is my first go at this.
>> >Figured
>> >I'd reach out here to hopefully help save some back and forth
>between
>> >CRAN
>> >maintainers when I go to submit.
>> >
>> >CODE: https://github.com/sonatype-nexus-community/oysteR
>> >
>> >Also, we are actively looking for contributors that want to help
>out,
>> >so if
>> >this project interests you, come on over!
>> >
>> >Cheers, and thanks in advance for any help!
>>
>> --
>> Sent from my phone. Please excuse my brevity.
>>

-- 
Sent from my phone. Please excuse my brevity.