[R-pkg-devel] Installed package size

[Ivan Krylov]

On Thu, 12 Mar 2020 15:16:13 +0000
Carsten Croonenbroeck <carsten.croonenbroeck using uni-rostock.de> wrote:

> I would like to know what's the maximum size and if there's a way
> around that limit.

Here's what CRAN policy [*] says about that:

>> As a general rule, neither data nor documentation should exceed 5MB
>> (which covers several books). A CRAN package is not an appropriate
>> way to distribute course notes, and authors will be asked to trim
>> their documentation to a maximum of 5MB.

(According to src/library/tools/R/check.R, 5MB seems to be the limit on
installed size, not compressed tarball size.)

>> Where a large amount of data is required (even after compression),
>> consideration should be given to a separate data-only package which
>> can be updated only rarely (since older versions of packages are
>> archived in perpetuity).

If publishing the data separately from the code is acceptable, you
could use drat [**] to set up a repository for the data package
somewhere else, then list the data package in Suggests: and the repo in
Additional_repositories: in the DESCRIPTION of the code package, which
you could submit to CRAN.

-- 
Best regards,
Ivan

[*] https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/policies.html

[**]
https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/drat/vignettes/DratForPackageAuthors.html