[R-pkg-devel] Trouble with dependencies on phyloseq and microViz

[Ivan Krylov]

On Tue, 7 May 2024 10:07:59 +1200
Simon Urbanek <simon.urbanek using R-project.org> wrote:

> That doesn't work - additional repositories are not allowed on CRAN
> other than in very exceptional cases, because it means the package
> cannot be installed by users making it somewhat pointless.

I suppose that with(tools::CRAN_package_db(),
sum(!is.na(Additional_repositories)) / length(Additional_repositories))
= 0.7% does make it very rare. But not even for a weak dependency? Is
it for data packages only, as seems to be the focus of
[10.32614/RJ-2017-026]? The current wording of the CRAN policy makes it
sound like Additional_repositories is preferred to explaining the
non-mainstream weak dependencies in Description.

So what should be done about the non-Bioconductor weak dependency
microViz?

> As for the OP, can you post the name of the package and/or the link
> to the errors so I can have a look?

Sharon has since got rid of the WARNING and now only has NOTEs due to
microViz and a URL to its repo in the Description:
https://win-builder.r-project.org/incoming_pretest/HybridMicrobiomes_0.1.2_20240504_185748/Debian/00check.log

If Additional_repositories: is the correct way to specify a
non-mainstream weak dependency for a CRAN package, the URL must be
specified as https://david-barnett.r-universe.dev/src/contrib, not just
https://david-barnett.r-universe.dev/. I am sorry for not getting it
right the first time.

-- 
Best regards,
Ivan