[R-pkg-devel] Package can't be imported with Suggests

[Gaurav Sood]

I think the key line = " Unfortunately, nimble will not work with this
mechanism. "

Given that, depends seems like a good short-term solution. Change it to
suggests once the upstream problem is fixed.


On Wed, Aug 5, 2020 at 3:36 PM Simon Bonner <simon.bonner using uwo.ca> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I’m wondering if someone an offer advice on a problem I’m facing in
> developing a package.
>
> My package essentially generates code and formats data for one of two MCMC
> sampling engines, JAGS accessed via rjags or nimble (a native R package),
> calls the engines, and then provides functions to access the results. Since
> only one of the engines is needed I would like to include rjags and nimble
> in Suggests in the DESCRIPTION and use requireNamespace() to load the
> appropriate package when its functionality is needed.
>
> Unfortunately, nimble will not work with this mechanism. It relies on a
> complex mechanism to compile C++ code to run the sampler, and some of the
> functions cannot be found when the package is loaded in this way. I’ve been
> in touch with the maintainers and they are aware of the issue but the
> current fix is to include the package under Depends. However, this forces a
> user to install nimble (which itself requires compiling lengthy C++ code)
> even if the user intends to run the sampler in JAGS.
>
> I thought I’d solved the problem by including nimble in Suggests and then
> loading it via library() so that all of its functions are attached. This
> works, but produces a note during the check:
> ❯ checking dependencies in R code ... NOTE
>   'library' or 'require' call to ‘nimble’ in package code.
>     Please use :: or requireNamespace() instead.
>     See section 'Suggested packages' in the 'Writing R Extensions' manual
>
> What is the recommendation?
>
> I see two options:
>
>
>   1.  Include nimble in Depends and force user to install it.
>   2.  Ignore the note and explain the problem when I resubmit to CRAN.
>
> Am I missing anything?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Simon
>
>
>
>
>
> Simon Bonner
> Assistant Professor of Environmetrics
> Department of Statistical and Actuarial Sciences
> University of Western Ontario
>
> Office: Western Science Centre rm 276
>
> Email: sbonner6 using uwo.ca<mailto:sbonner6 using uwo.ca> | Telephone: 519-661-2111
> x88205 | Fax: 519-661-3813
> Twitter: @bonnerstatslab | Website:
> http://simon.bonners.ca/bonner-lab/wpblog/
>
>
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