R devel - Sep 2010 - How to set up an own package repository

Dear List,

 

I'd like to set up a package repository so I can use install.packages() on
it for home-grown packages. I set up an AMPP infrastructure on a windows box
already, but I'm pretty lost with respect to what to do next as I didn't
do
any web-programming/admin yet. Could anyone recommend some r-specific
tutorials or has a couple of suggestions for me? I've had a look at the
official R manual, but it just describes the required repository structure,
but not how to implement that. I'd also be willing to dive into SVN and
alikes if you think that's best practice.

 

Thanks for any help whatsoever,

Janko

On Sep 17, 2010, at 6:16 AM, Janko Thyson wrote:
> Dear List,
> 
> 
> 
> I'd like to set up a package repository so I can use install.packages()
on
> it for home-grown packages. I set up an AMPP infrastructure on a windows
box
> already, but I'm pretty lost with respect to what to do next as I
didn't do
> any web-programming/admin yet. Could anyone recommend some r-specific
> tutorials or has a couple of suggestions for me? I've had a look at the
> official R manual, but it just describes the required repository structure,
> but not how to implement that. I'd also be willing to dive into SVN and
> alikes if you think that's best practice.
> 
All you need is a web space. There are so many way to get one (many hosting
provides, renting a server, accessing your home machine if your ISP allows it
...) that it's impossible to give a generic instruction. Once you get a
webspace, it's just a matter of creating the directory structure described
in R-admin in that space. Most hosting provides have web tools for that so you
create the directories and upload your files.

What you are trying to achieve is that if you have let's say
http://someHosting.com/myAccount
as the root for your web space to support
install.packages("myPackage",,"http://someHosting.com/myAccount")
then you want 
http://someHosting.com/myAccount/src/contrib/PACKAGES
to exist and have the list of the packages (see R-admin) and your package
sources in there. Analogously you want to create the binaries (Windows, Mac OS X
etc.) in the corresponding bin/.../contrib folders so other users can install it
without type='source'.

Of course you can use
install.packages("myPackage",,"file:///myRepository") and
have the files locally in /myRepository/src/contrib if you're only concerned
about your local use.

Cheers,
Simon

Janko Thyson <janko.thyson <at> ku-eichstaett.de> writes:
> 
> Dear List,
> 
> I'd like to set up a package repository so I can use install.packages()
on
> it for home-grown packages. I set up an AMPP infrastructure on a windows
box
> already, but I'm pretty lost with respect to what to do next as I
didn't do
> any web-programming/admin yet. Could anyone recommend some r-specific
> tutorials or has a couple of suggestions for me? I've had a look at the
> official R manual, but it just describes the required repository structure,
> but not how to implement that. I'd also be willing to dive into SVN and
> alikes if you think that's best practice.
  It's pretty easy.  For example, I have a directory hierarchy

R/bin/{windows,windows64}
R/src/contrib/

  in each bottom-level directory I have the appropriate zipped
binaries or tar.gz sources, along with a PACKAGES file generated
by the write_PACKAGES function in the tools package.
  
  see section 6.6 of the R-admin manual.

>>>>> On Fri, 17 Sep 2010 12:16:47 +0200,
>>>>> Janko Thyson (JT) wrote:
  > Dear List,
  > I'd like to set up a package repository so I can use
install.packages() on
  > it for home-grown packages. I set up an AMPP infrastructure on a windows
box
  > already, but I'm pretty lost with respect to what to do next as I
didn't do
  > any web-programming/admin yet. Could anyone recommend some r-specific
  > tutorials or has a couple of suggestions for me? I've had a look at
the
  > official R manual, but it just describes the required repository
structure,
  > but not how to implement that. I'd also be willing to dive into SVN
and
  > alikes if you think that's best practice.

If all machines involved can mount the repository as a network drive
you need no webserver at all, just use a file:/path/to/repository URL
for the repository.

If you want a full featured web frontend you may want to have a look
at the Bioconductor scripts for generating repositories:

http://bioconductor.org/packages/2.7/bioc/html/biocViews.html

and especially

http://bioconductor.org/packages/2.7/bioc/vignettes/biocViews/inst/doc/createReposHtml.pdf

The scripts for CRAN are also in R but very specific for CRANs needs ...

Best,
Fritz

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