CODEWITHSUNDEEP
r
Lars Kotthoff
Lars Kotthoff

Reputation: 109232

Package dependencies for R CMD check

The DESCRIPTION file in R packages has several ways of specifying dependencies, e.g. Depends, Suggests and Imports. Which one should I use to specify a dependency that is optional once the package is installed, but required for running R CMD check?

In my particular case I am using testthat to run some tests automatically when R CMD check is run, but during "normal" operation, testthat is not required. The answer to this question suggests that testthat should be in Suggests, but is that enough to ensure that R CMD check runs correctly?

What I would like to see, if it exists, is a field where I can speciy dependencies that are required only to run R CMD check, which should fail with an appropriate error message if these packages are not available.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 2407

Answers (1)

Joshua Ulrich
Joshua Ulrich

Reputation: 176648

Yes, you should put them in the Suggests field. The only other thing required for R CMD check to run successfully is to ensure the packages in the Suggests field are installed in a location that will be found by R CMD check.

If they're not available, you can set the environment variable _R_CHECK_FORCE_SUGGESTS=false and R CMD check will run, with a "NOTE" about the missing suggested packages.

Upvotes: 5

Related Questions