[R-pkg-devel] R Package Development -- PDF Manual without Index

[Duncan Murdoch]

On 02/09/2023 2:50 p.m., John Carter Hall wrote:
> Hello R-Package-Devel Mailing List,
> 
> I am new to R package development, and am having to limp a project across the line after my organization has gone through significant changes in recent weeks.
> As such, I am emailing to understand what I can do to solve an error I am having:
> 
> The Error
> 
> Flavor: r-devel-linux-x86_64-debian-gcc
> Check: PDF version of manual without index, Result: ERROR
> 
> The Issue
> 
> For whatever reason, the R CMD check​ desires different fields in the DESCRIPTION file than does the devtools::check() function (particularly w.r.t. the 'Author' field), and so I have to use devtools to build/check the package. The devtools::build_manual function, however, does not work, and so I am forced to utilize Rd2pdf to create my PDF manual.

CRAN will use R CMD check, so if things aren't working there, they won't 
accept your package.
> 
> I have to make the manual via Windows due to issues with an Ubuntu installation of my package. However, the package is intended for Linux/Debian audiences.
> 
> What I Need Help With
> 
> I believe I have the manual created. I do not know if this manual needs to be created when CRAN does their checks, but I have the document (I am comparing its appearance to the manual of ggplot2​, and the structure is similar). I do not know where it needs to be located. I have tried the root directory of the package, the doc​ folder, etc... but nothing works.

You don't need to make a manual at all.  CRAN will do that for you.

Duncan Murdoch