R devel - Apr 2008 - package.skeleton() creates corrupted Rd file (PR#11191)

Calling package.skeleton() results in corrupted Rd-file stub on my
system. It (the file) is contaminated with mass question marks.

This happens only for package Rd file, Rd stubs for *package
functions* are generated nicely.

An example of bad Rd file created by package.skeleton():

\name{cmrutils-package}
\alias{cmrutils-package}
\alias{cmrutils}
\docType{package}
\title{
What the package does (short line)
~~ ????????? ?????? ~~
}
\description{
More about what it does (maybe more than one line)
~~ ??????? ?????????? (1-5 ?????) ???????? ?????? ~~
}
\details{
\tabular{ll}{
Package: \tab cmrutils\cr
Type: \tab Package\cr
Version: \tab 1.0\cr
Date: \tab 2008-03-30\cr
License: \tab What license is it under?\cr
}
~~ ????? ????, ??? ???????????? ?????, ??????? ???????? ?????? ??????? ~~
}
\author{
Who wrote it

?????????: Who to complain to <yourfault at somewhere.net>
~~ ????? ?/??? ?????????????? ????? ~~
}
\references{
~~ ?????????? ??? ?????? ?????? ?? ?????????????? ?????????? ~~
}
~~ ?????????????: ?????? ??????????? ???????? ?????, ?? ?????? ?? ??????, ~~
~~ ?? ????? KEYWORDS ? ????? ? ????????????? ?? R ~~
\keyword{ package }
\seealso{
~~ ?????????????? ?????? ?? ?????? ???????? ???????????, ???????? ~~
~~ \code{\link[<pkg>:<pkg>-package]{<pkg>}} ~~
}
\examples{
~~ ??????? ??????? ??? ???????? ?????? ??????? ~~
}

The file has been corrupted unevitably: these ?s are all actual 3F
characters, not that I just open the file in incorrect encoding.

Upon discussion with Dirk Eddelbuettel and Douglas Bates and further
investigation, it appears that the problem is in package.skeleton()
function, not in promptPackage() function neither in R-ru.po (Russian
translations for R) file. This is the problematic code:

package.skeleton <-
    ...
{
    ...

    ## we need to test in the C locale
    curLocale <- Sys.getlocale("LC_CTYPE")
    on.exit(Sys.setlocale("LC_CTYPE", curLocale), add = TRUE)
    if(Sys.setlocale("LC_CTYPE", "C") != "C")
        warning("cannot turn off locale-specific chars via LC_CTYPE")

    ...
}

Rd stubs for *package functions* are not affected because the
corresponding strings are not (yet) translated.

I'm ready to provide any additional info.

--please do not edit the information below--

Version:
 platform = i486-pc-linux-gnu
 arch = i486
 os = linux-gnu
 system = i486, linux-gnu
 status = 
 major = 2
 minor = 6.2
 year = 2008
 month = 02
 day = 08
 svn rev = 44383
 language = R
 version.string = R version 2.6.2 (2008-02-08)

Locale:
LC_CTYPE=ru_RU.UTF-8;LC_NUMERIC=C;LC_TIME=ru_RU.UTF-8;LC_COLLATE=ru_RU.UTF-8;LC_MONETARY=ru_RU.UTF-8;LC_MESSAGES=ru_RU.UTF-8;LC_PAPER=ru_RU.UTF-8;LC_NAME=C;LC_ADDRESS=C;LC_TELEPHONE=C;LC_MEASUREMENT=ru_RU.UTF-8;LC_IDENTIFICATION=C

Search Path:
 .GlobalEnv, package:stats, package:graphics, package:grDevices, package:utils,
package:datasets, package:methods, Autoloads, package:base