I would like to read the source files of the install.packages function. More specifically, I'd like to understand exactly how this function downloads files from web repositories.
However, these source files seem hidden (debug(install.packages) is useless). Do you have any idea how i can access them? BTW I thought hiding source files was something not commonly done in R...
If you are running in RStudio, there are two functions with that name: the wrapper that RStudio put in place, and the original one from the utils package in base R.
You can see the original one by typing
utils::install.packages
The source is really long, so I won't post it.
You can see the RStudio replacement by leaving off the prefix:
> install.packages
function (...)
.rs.callAs(name, hook, original, ...)
<environment: 0x7f856709ec00>
Seeing what they put in their hook is a little trickier:
get("hook", envir = environment(install.packages))
It's not completely clear what you want to find from the source, but at some level R is going to use the download.file() function to download things. You can debug that to see what files it downloads.
Related
I’ve written some R functions and dropped them into a script file using RStudio. These are bits of code that I use over and over, so I’m wondering how I might most easily create an R package out of them (for my own private use).
I’ve read various “how to” guides online but they’re quite complicated. Can anyone suggest an “idiot’s guide” to doing this please?
I've been involved in creating R packages recently, so I can help you with that. Before proceeding to the steps to be followed, there are some pre-requisites, which include:
RStudio
devtools package (for most of the functions involved in creation of a package)
roxygen2 package (for roxygen documentation)
In case you don't have the aforementioned packages, you can install them with these commands respectively:
install.packages("devtools")
install.packages("roxygen2")
Steps:
(1) Import devtools in RStudio by using library(devtools).
(devtools is a core package that makes creating R packages easier with its tools)
(2) Create your package by using:
create_package("~/directory/package_name") for a custom directory.
or
create_package("package_name") if you want your package to be created in current workspace directory.
(3) Soon after you execute this function, it will open a new RStudio session. You will observe that in the old session some lines will be auto-generated which basically tells R to create a new package with required components in the specified directory.
After this, we are done with this old instance of RStudio. We will continue our work on the new RStudio session window.
By far the package creation part is already over (yes, that simple) however, a package isn't directly functionable just by its creation plus the fact that you need to include a function in it requires some additional aspects of a package such as its documentation (where the function's title, parameters, return types, examples etc as mentioned using #param, #return etc - you would be familiar if you see roxygen documentation like in some github repositories) and R CMD checks to get it working.
I'll get to that in the subsequent steps, but just in case you want to verify that your package is created, you can look at:
The top right corner of the new RStudio session, where you can see the package name that you created.
The console, where you will see that R created a new directory/folder in the path that we specified in create_package() function.
The files panel of RStudio session, where you'll notice a bunch of new files and directories within your directory.
(4) As you mentioned in your words, you drop your functions in a script file - hence you will need to create the script first, which can be done using:
use_r("function_name")
A new R script will pop up in your working session, ready to be used.
Now go ahead and write your function(s) in it.
(5) After your done, you need to load the function(s) you have written for your package. This is accomplished by using the devtools::load_all() function.
When you execute load_all() in the console, you'll get to know that the functions have been loaded into your package when you'll see Loading package_name displayed in console.
You can try calling your functions after that in the console to verify that they work as a part of the package.
(6) Now that your function has been written and loaded into your package, it is time to move onto checks. It is a good practice to check the whole package as we make changes to our package. The function devtools::check() offers an easy way to do this.
Try executing check() in the console, it will go through a number of procedures checking your package for warnings/errors and give details for the same as messages on the screen (pertaining to what are the errors/warnings/notes). The R CMD check results at the end will contain the vital logs for you to see what are the errors and warnings you got along with their frequency.
If the functions in your package are written well, (with additional package dependencies taken care of) it will give you two warnings upon execution of check:
The first warning will be regarding the license that your package uses, which is not specified for a new pacakge.
The second should be the one for documentation, warning us that our code is not documented.
To resolve the first issue which is the license, use the use_mit_license("license_holder_name") command (or any other license which suits your package - but then for private use as you mentioned, it doesn't really matter what you specify if only your going to use it or not its to be distributed) with your name as in place of license_holder_name or anything which suits a license name.
This will add the license field in the .DESCRIPTION file (in your files panel) plus create additional files adding the license information.
Also you'll need to edit the .DESCRIPTION file, which have self-explanatory fields to fill-in or edit. Here is an example of how you can have it:
Package: Your_package_name
Title: Give a brief title
Version: 1.0.0.0
Authors#R:
person(given = "Your_first_name",
family = "Your_surname/family_name",
role = c("package_creator", "author"),
email = "youremailaddress#gmail.com",
comment = c(ORCID = "YOUR-ORCID-ID"))
Description: Give a brief description considering your package functionality.
License: will be updated with whatever license you provide, the above step will take care of this line.
Encoding: UTF-8
LazyData: true
To resolve the documentation warning, you'll need to document your function using roxygen documentation. An example:
#' #param a parameter one
#' #param b parameter two
#' #return sum of a and b
#' #export
#'
#' #examples
#' yourfunction(1,2)
yourfunction <- function(a,b)
{
sum <- a+b
return(sum)
}
Follow the roxygen syntax and add attributes as you desire, some may be optional such as #title for specifying title, while others such as #import are required (must) if your importing from other packages other than base R.
After your done documenting your function(s) using the Roxygen skeleton, we can tell our package that we have documented our functions by running devtools::document(). After you execute the document() command, perform check() again to see if you get any warnings. If you don't, then that means you're good to go. (you won't if you follow the steps)
Lastly, you'll need to install the package, for it to be accessible by R. Simply use the install() command (yes the same one you used at the beginning, except you don't need to specify the package here like install("package") since you are currently working in an instance where the package is loaded and is ready to be deployed/installed) and you'll see after a few lines of installation a statement like "Done (package_name)", which indicates the installation of our package is complete.
Now you can try your function by first importing your package using library("package_name") and then calling your desired function from the package. Thats it, congrats you did it!
I've tried to include the procedure in a lucid way (the way I create my R packages), but if you have any doubts feel free to ask.
I am currently developing an R package and want it to be as clean as possible, so I try to resolve all WARNINGs and NOTEs displayed by devtools::check().
One of these notes is related to some code I use for generating sample data to go with the package:
checking top-level files ... NOTE
Non-standard file/directory found at top level:
'generate_sample_data.R'
It's an R script currently placed in the package root directory and not meant to be distributed with the package (because it doesn't really seem useful to include)
So here's my question:
Where should I put such a file or how do I tell R to leave it be?
Is .Rbuildignore the right way to go?
Currently devtools::build() puts the R script in the final package, so I shouldn't just ignore the NOTE.
As suggested in http://r-pkgs.had.co.nz/data.html, it makes sense to use ./data-raw/ for scripts/functions that are necessary for creating/updating data but not something you need in the package itself. After adding ./data-raw/ to ./.Rbuildignore, the package generation should ignore anything within that directory. (And, as you commented, there is a helper-function devtools::use_data_raw().)
I am working in team, we mainly use R, I am quite used to use R project in Rstudio, which I like because when I open them I have all my scripts and everything at the right place. However when another member of the team opens one of my project it loads the values and data but does not open the R script (one can see that by physically clicking on the project through the windows explorer rather than using the menu at the top right in R). I guess something can be done in the .Rprofile but I did not find any command to open physically a script, I tried
file.edit("./Main.R")
but it did not open anything. It just got me the message :
Error: could not find function "file.edit"
As always,
Thanks for your help !
**EDIT
I tried to use
file.show
file.edit
shell.exec(file.path(getwd()), "Main.R"))
in the .Rprofile. Nothing worked.
Romain
You can use the following code in the .Rprofile file.
setHook("rstudio.sessionInit", function(newSession) {
if (newSession)
rstudioapi::navigateToFile('<file name>', line = -1L, column = -1L)
}, action = "append")
The rstudioapi library has the function navigateToFile to open a file in Rstudio. The problem is that the code in the .Rprofile runs before Rstudio initialization. To deal with this problem you can use the setHook function (from base package) to make the code execute after the Rstudio initialization.
file.edit requires the utils package
library(utils)
file.edit("Master.R")
However, if it opens in Notepad rather than RStudio you have the same problem as me. I've tried editing the editor= in all possible places: .RProfile, RProfile, RProfile.sites, with and without .First() function statements and calls. However, RStudio does not load the .R file in RStudio if told to. It may be linked to the .RData file being loaded after .RProfile. Bug? Or at least a feature RStudio should incorporate in their RProject file specification.
My paths and files are as follows ...
E:R/R-2.15.1/library/Rcmdr/
E:R/R-2.15.1/library/RcmdrPlugin.Package/
E:R/R-2.15.1/MyLibrary/RcmdrPlugin.Package.zip
E:R/R-2.15.1/MyLibrary/RcmdrPlugin.Package/
where, in the name RcmdrPlugin.Package, I've used the word 'Package' to represent the name of the actual package being used.
The installation is as described above because (i) I'm not an expert at installing packages, (ii) I couldn't do a direct install from Cran because I wanted to put the package onto a USB stick; and, (iii) at work the Cran server is blocked (sic).
When I start the package from the GUI the Cmdr opens once and quickly closes (I don't know if this is relevant or normal) and opens again. Once open, I can operate the package via the Cmdr interface. It's a very nice package, everything works really well until I want to save the work. Then I get the following error,
Error in obj[i] : object of type 'closure' is not subsettable
I've been in contact with the people who developed (and are still developing) the package and they cannot reproduce the bug.
I strongly suspect that the problem lies in my 'crappy' install and file configuration, rather than with the package.
Can anyone please help me by suggesting how I would undo what I've done and do it properly in view of the constraints list above?
I appreciate that I can use Remove to get rid of the package but I don't want to start tinkering with something without having a greater understanding of what I'm doing.
Lastly, note that is error has been discussed a number of times on this list but not within this particular context.
I've managed to get it to work by following the instructions from here stackoverflow.com/questions/12820189/… where I set repos=NULL after I'd put the package into /MyLibrary/
I want to find the location of the script .R files which are used for computation in R.
I know that by typing the object function, I will get the code which is running and then I can copy and edit and save it as a new script file and use that.
The reason for asking to find the foo.R file is
Curiosity
Know what is the algorithm used in the numerical computations
More immedietly, the function from stats package I am using, is running results for two of the arguments and not the others and have to figure out how to make it work.
Error shown by R implies that there might be some modification required in the script file.
I am looking for a more general answer, if its possible.
Edit: As per the comments so far, here is the code to compute spectrum of a time series using autoregressive methods. The data input is a univariate series.
x = ts(data)
spec.ar(x, method = "yule-walker") 1
spec.ar(x, method = "burg") 2
command 1 is running ok.
command 2 gives the following error.
Error in ar.burg.default(x, aic = aic, order.max = order.max, na.action = na.action, :
Burg's algorithm only implemented for univariate series
I did try specify all the arguments correctly like na.action=na.fail, order.max = NULL etc but the message is the same.
Kindly suggest possible solutions.
P.S. (This question is posted after searching the library folder where R is installed and zip files which come with packages, manuals, and opening .rdb, .rdx files)
See FAQ 7.40 How do I access the source code for a function?
In most cases, typing the name of the function will print its source
code. However, code is sometimes hidden in a namespace, or compiled.
For a complete overview on how to access source code, see Uwe Ligges
(2006), “Help Desk: Accessing the sources”, R News, 6/4, 43–45
(http://cran.r-project.org/doc/Rnews/Rnews_2006-4.pdf).
When R installs a package, it evaluates all the ".R" source files and re-saves them into a binary format for faster loading. Therefore you typically cannot easily find the source file.
As has been suggested elsewhere, you can simply type the function name and see the source code, or download the source package and find the source there.
library(plyr)
ddply # prints the source for ddply
# See the content of the R directory for plyr,
# but it's only binary files:
dir(file.path(find.package("plyr"), "R"))
# [1] "plyr" "plyr.rdb" "plyr.rdx"
# Get the source for the package:
download.packages("plyr", "~", type="source")
# ...then unpack and inspect the R directory...
.libPaths() should tell you all of your current library locations. It's possible to have more than one installation of a package if there are two libraries but only the one that is in the first library will be used. Unless you offer the code and the exact error message, it's not likely that anyone will be able to offer better advice.
I think you are asking to see what I call the source code for a function in a package. If so, the way I do it is as follows, which has worked successfully for me on the three times I have tried. I keep these instructions handy in a few places and just copied and pasted them here:
To see the source code for a function in Program R download the package containing the function. Specifically, download the file that ends in "tar.gz". This is a compressed file. Expand the compressed file using, for example, "WinZip". Now you need to open the uncompressed file that ends in ".tar". Download the free software "7-Zip". Click on the file "7zFM.exe" and navigate to the directory containing the ".tar" file. You can extract the contents of that ".tar" file into a new folder. The contents consist of R files showing the source code for the functions in the R package.
EDIT:
Today (July 8, 2012) I was able to open the 'tar.gz' file using the latest version of 'WinZIP' and could copy the contents (the source code) from there without having to use '7-Zip'.
EDIT:
Today (January 19, 2013) I viewed the source code for functions in base R by downloading the file
'R-2.15.2.tar.gz'
To download that file go to the http://cran.at.r-project.org/ webpage and click on that file in this line:
"The latest release (2012-10-26, Trick or Treat): R-2.15.2.tar.gz, read what's new in the latest version."
Unzip the file. WinZip will work, or it did for me. Then search your computer for readtable.r or another base R function.
agstudy noted here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14417214/source-file-for-r-function that source code for read.csv is located in the file readtable.r, so do not expect every base R function to have its own file.