[R] Where is a package NEWS.Rd located?

[Niels Richard Hansen]

Dear Kevin

Just had the same "problem", that is, placed the NEWS.Rd in
the package inst/ directory, and the news() function did not
find the information. The help page for news() is, however,
pretty clear:

"..., if the given add-on package can be found
in the given libraries, it is attempted to read its news in
structured form from files 'inst/NEWS.Rd', 'NEWS' or 'inst/NEWS'
(in that order)."

Hence, installing NEWS.Rd in an inst/ directory works fine.
I have no idea if an installed package should or shouldn't have
an inst/ subdirectory, but from the help page the functionality
seems intentional to me.

- Niels

On 06/01/11 12.35, Kevin Wright wrote:
> Andy, thanks for providing a clear way of saying it.  I thought I was
> clear in the first place, but oh well).
>
> Here is the structure of my source files:
>
> hwpkg/DESCRIPTION
> hwpkg/R/hw.R
> hwpkg/inst/NEWS.Rd
>
> I'm using Windows XP.  When I install this package, I do this:
>
> Rcmd INSTALL hwpkg
>
> Which results in
>
> ls c:/r/r-2.12.0/library/hwpkg/
> -rwxr-x---+ 1 wrightkevi 355 Jan  6 14:19 DESCRIPTION
> drwxrwx---+ 2 wrightkevi   0 Jan  6 14:19 Meta
> -rwxr-x---+ 1 wrightkevi  18 Jan  6 14:19 NEWS.Rd
> drwxrwx---+ 2 wrightkevi   0 Jan  6 14:19 R
> drwxrwx---+ 2 wrightkevi   0 Jan  6 14:19 help
> drwxrwx---+ 2 wrightkevi   0 Jan  6 14:19 html
>
> As you see, there is no "inst/NEWS.Rd" file (NEWS.Rd has been moved UP
> a level), and so news(package="hwpkg") returns nothing.
>
> If I build the package into a zipfile and then
> install.packages(zipfile), the same problem occurs.
>
> Kevin
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 2:06 PM, Liaw, Andy<andy_liaw at merck.com>  wrote:
>> I was communicating with Kevin off-list.
>>
>> The problem seems to be run time, not install time.  News() calls
>> tools:::.build_news_db(), and the 2nd line of that function is:
>>
>>   nfile<- file.path(dir, "inst", "NEWS.Rd")
>>
>> and that's the problem:  an installed package shouldn't have an inst/
>> subdirectory, right?
>>
>> Andy
>>
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: r-help-bounces at r-project.org
>>> [mailto:r-help-bounces at r-project.org] On Behalf Of Duncan Murdoch
>>> Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2011 2:30 PM
>>> To: Kevin Wright
>>> Cc: R list
>>> Subject: Re: [R] Where is a package NEWS.Rd located?
>>>
>>> On 06/01/2011 2:19 PM, Kevin Wright wrote:
>>>> Yes, exactly.  But the problem is with NEWS.Rd, not NEWS.
>>>
>>> I'm not sure who you are arguing with, but if you do file a
>>> bug report,
>>> please also put together a simple reproducible example, e.g. a small
>>> package containing NEWS.Rd in the inst directory (which is where the
>>> docs say it should go) and code that shows why this is bad.
>>> Don't just
>>> talk about internal functions used for building packages; as
>>> far as we
>>> can tell so far tools:::.build_news_db is doing exactly what
>>> it should
>>> be doing.
>>>
>>> Duncan Murdoch
>>>
>>>> pkg/inst/NEWS.Rd is moved to pkg/NEWS.Rd at build time, but for
>>>> installed packages, "news" tried to load "pkg/inst/NEWS.Rd".
>>>>
>>>> I'm going to file a bug report.
>>>>
>>>> Kevin
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 7:29 AM, Kevin
>>> Wright<kw.stat at gmail.com>    wrote:
>>>>>   If you look at tools:::.build_news_db, the plain text
>>> NEWS file is
>>>>>   searched for in pkg/NEWS and pkg/inst/NEWS, but NEWS.Rd in only
>>>>>   searched for in pkg/inst/NEWS.Rd.
>>>>>
>>>>>   Looks like a bug to me.
>>>>>
>>>>>   I *think*.
>>>>>
>>>>>   Thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>>   Kevin
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>   On Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 7:09 AM, Kevin
>>> Wright<kw.stat at gmail.com>    wrote:
>>>>>>   Hopefully a quick question.  My package has a NEWS.Rd
>>> file that is not
>>>>>>   being found by "news".
>>>>>>
>>>>>>   The "news" function calls "tools:::.build_news_db"
>>> which has this line:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>   nfile<- file.path(dir, "inst", "NEWS.Rd")
>>>>>>
>>>>>>   So it appears that the "news" function is searching for
>>>>>>   "mypackage/inst/NEWS.Rd".
>>>>>>
>>>>>>   However, "Writing R extensions" says "The contents of the inst
>>>>>>   subdirectory will be copied recursively to the
>>> installation directory"
>>>>>>
>>>>>>   During the installation, mypackage/inst/NEWS.Rd is
>>> copied into the
>>>>>>   "mypackage" directory, not "mypackage/inst".
>>>>>>
>>>>>>   What am I doing wrong, or is this a bug?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>   Kevin Wright
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>   --
>>>>>>   Kevin Wright
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>   --
>>>>>   Kevin Wright
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
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>>> http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
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>
>
>

-- 
Niels Richard Hansen                     Web:   www.math.ku.dk/~richard	
Associate Professor                      Email: Niels.R.Hansen at math.ku.dk
Department of Mathematical Sciences             nielsrichardhansen at gmail.com
University of Copenhagen                 Skype: nielsrichardhansen.dk	
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