[R-pkg-devel] Indicate dependency on kitty in DESCRIPTION

[Jan van der Laan]

OK. Thanks!

I wasn't sure if the 'SystemRequirements' field was intended just for 
dependencies needed for building and installing the package like 
libraries or a 'non-default C++ standard'. Or that it should also be 
used for dependencies needed at run-time.

Jan


On 07-07-2025 17:53, Duncan Murdoch wrote:
> On 2025-07-07 11:23 a.m., Jan van der Laan wrote:
>>
>> I have a package, which I am thinking to submit to CRAN. It can output
>> graphics/plots to the kitty terminal (https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/).
>> However, I am not sure if and how I should indicate the dependency on
>> kitty. The package builds and installs fine without kitty. However, you
>> can't really use it without it (it will generate errors when you try).
>>
>> Two possible fields in the DESCRIPTION could be:
>>
>> SystemRequirements: kitty
>>
>> And since, kitty only runs on macos and linux:
>>
>> OS_type: unix
>>
>> Should I add these? Like above?
> 
> I think the SystemRequirements field is enough.  *Your package* doesn't 
> depend on unix, it just depends on kitty.
> 
> Duncan Murdoch
>