I don't think anyone denies that you *could* make an EXE to do all that. The discussion is on *how easy* it should be to create a single file that contains an initial "main" function plus a set of bundled code (potentially as a package) and which when run will install its package code (which is contained in itself, its not in a repo), install dependencies, and run the main() function. Now, I could build a self-executable shar file that bundled a package together with a script to do all the above. But if there was a "RUN" command in R, and a convention that a function called "foo::main" would be run by `R CMD RUN foo_1.1.1.tar.gz` then it would be so much easier to develop and test. If people think this adds value, then if they want to offer that value to me as $ or ?, I'd consider writing it if their total value was more than my cost.... Barry On Sat, Feb 2, 2019 at 12:54 AM Abs Spurdle <spurdle.a at gmail.com> wrote:> > Further to my previous post, > it would be possible to create an .exe file, say: > > my_r_application.exe > > That starts R, loads your R package(s), calls the R function of your choice > and does whatever else you want. > > However, I don't think that it would add much value. > But feel free to correct me if you think that I'm wrong. > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > > ______________________________________________ > R-devel at r-project.org mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
On 02/02/2019 8:27 a.m., Barry Rowlingson wrote:> I don't think anyone denies that you *could* make an EXE to do all > that. The discussion is on *how easy* it should be to create a single > file that contains an initial "main" function plus a set of bundled > code (potentially as a package) and which when run will install its > package code (which is contained in itself, its not in a repo), > install dependencies, and run the main() function. > > Now, I could build a self-executable shar file that bundled a package > together with a script to do all the above. But if there was a "RUN" > command in R, and a convention that a function called "foo::main" > would be run by `R CMD RUN foo_1.1.1.tar.gz` then it would be so much > easier to develop and test.I don't believe the "so much easier" argument that this requires a change to base R. If you put that functionality into a package, then the only extra effort the user would require is to install that other package. After that, they could run Rscript -e "yourpackage::run_main('foo_1.1.1.tar.gz')" as I suggested before. This is no harder than running R CMD RUN foo_1.1.1.tar.gz The advantage of this from R Core's perspective is that you would be developing and maintaining "yourpackage", you wouldn't be passing the burden on to them. The advantage from your perspective is that you could work with whatever packages you liked. The "remotes" package has almost everything you need so that "yourpackage" could be nearly trivial. You wouldn't need to duplicate it within base R. Duncan Murdoch> > If people think this adds value, then if they want to offer that value > to me as $ or ?, I'd consider writing it if their total value was more > than my cost.... > > Barry > > > On Sat, Feb 2, 2019 at 12:54 AM Abs Spurdle <spurdle.a at gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Further to my previous post, >> it would be possible to create an .exe file, say: >> >> my_r_application.exe >> >> That starts R, loads your R package(s), calls the R function of your choice >> and does whatever else you want. >> >> However, I don't think that it would add much value. >> But feel free to correct me if you think that I'm wrong. >> >> [[alternative HTML version deleted]] >> >> ______________________________________________ >> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel > > ______________________________________________ > R-devel at r-project.org mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel >
I see some value in Duncan?s proposal to implement this as an extra package instead of a change to base R, if only to see if the idea has legs. I?m minded to do so myself using your suggestion, but is there a particular reason why you recommend using the remotes package instead of devtools? The latter seems to have the same functions I would need, and I believe it is more widely installed that remotes? Kind regards, From: Duncan Murdoch <murdoch.duncan at gmail.com> <murdoch.duncan at gmail.com> Reply: Duncan Murdoch <murdoch.duncan at gmail.com> <murdoch.duncan at gmail.com> Date: 2 February 2019 at 15:37:16 To: Barry Rowlingson <b.rowlingson at lancaster.ac.uk> <b.rowlingson at lancaster.ac.uk>, Abs Spurdle <spurdle.a at gmail.com> <spurdle.a at gmail.com> Cc: r-devel <r-devel at r-project.org> <r-devel at r-project.org> Subject: Re: [Rd] Runnable R packages On 02/02/2019 8:27 a.m., Barry Rowlingson wrote:> I don't think anyone denies that you *could* make an EXE to do all > that. The discussion is on *how easy* it should be to create a single > file that contains an initial "main" function plus a set of bundled > code (potentially as a package) and which when run will install its > package code (which is contained in itself, its not in a repo), > install dependencies, and run the main() function. > > Now, I could build a self-executable shar file that bundled a package > together with a script to do all the above. But if there was a "RUN" > command in R, and a convention that a function called "foo::main" > would be run by `R CMD RUN foo_1.1.1.tar.gz` then it would be so much > easier to develop and test.I don't believe the "so much easier" argument that this requires a change to base R. If you put that functionality into a package, then the only extra effort the user would require is to install that other package. After that, they could run Rscript -e "yourpackage::run_main('foo_1.1.1.tar.gz')" as I suggested before. This is no harder than running R CMD RUN foo_1.1.1.tar.gz The advantage of this from R Core's perspective is that you would be developing and maintaining "yourpackage", you wouldn't be passing the burden on to them. The advantage from your perspective is that you could work with whatever packages you liked. The "remotes" package has almost everything you need so that "yourpackage" could be nearly trivial. You wouldn't need to duplicate it within base R. Duncan Murdoch> > If people think this adds value, then if they want to offer that value > to me as $ or ?, I'd consider writing it if their total value was more > than my cost.... > > Barry > > > On Sat, Feb 2, 2019 at 12:54 AM Abs Spurdle <spurdle.a at gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Further to my previous post, >> it would be possible to create an .exe file, say: >> >> my_r_application.exe >> >> That starts R, loads your R package(s), calls the R function of yourchoice>> and does whatever else you want. >> >> However, I don't think that it would add much value. >> But feel free to correct me if you think that I'm wrong. >> >> [[alternative HTML version deleted]] >> >> ______________________________________________ >> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel > > ______________________________________________ > R-devel at r-project.org mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel >______________________________________________ R-devel at r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel David Lindel?f, Ph.D. +41 (0)79 415 66 41 <//415 66 41> or skype:david.lindelof http://computersandbuildings.com Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/dlindelof [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
Creating an .exe file isn't necessarily difficult. The main problems are that you have to write and compile the C (or other) files. Otherwise, the complexity depends on the level of Inter Process Communication that's required. Simply starting R with some initial conditions, is easy. Even if you want to prompt the user to install missing packages, it isn't necessarily difficult. It would be possible to take this one step further, and write an .exe builder, that automates the process of creating .exe files. Obviously, it would require a compiler and supporting libraries. I have a preference for GCC, and I'm not sure if you can run GCC on Windows without Cygwin. I may (or may not) look into this further, in a few weeks time. On Sun, Feb 3, 2019 at 2:27 AM Barry Rowlingson < b.rowlingson at lancaster.ac.uk> wrote:> I don't think anyone denies that you *could* make an EXE to do all > that. The discussion is on *how easy* it should be to create a single > file that contains an initial "main" function plus a set of bundled > code (potentially as a package) and which when run will install its > package code (which is contained in itself, its not in a repo), > install dependencies, and run the main() function. > > Now, I could build a self-executable shar file that bundled a package > together with a script to do all the above. But if there was a "RUN" > command in R, and a convention that a function called "foo::main" > would be run by `R CMD RUN foo_1.1.1.tar.gz` then it would be so much > easier to develop and test. > > If people think this adds value, then if they want to offer that value > to me as $ or ?, I'd consider writing it if their total value was more > than my cost.... > > Barry >___________________________________________> > R-devel at r-project.org mailing list > > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel >[[alternative HTML version deleted]]
Doesn't Rtools provide everything needed to build R packages and R on Windows - including gcc? Am Sa., 2. Feb. 2019 um 22:29 Uhr schrieb Abs Spurdle <spurdle.a at gmail.com>:> Creating an .exe file isn't necessarily difficult. > The main problems are that you have to write and compile the C (or other) > files. > Otherwise, the complexity depends on the level of Inter Process > Communication that's required. > > Simply starting R with some initial conditions, is easy. > Even if you want to prompt the user to install missing packages, it isn't > necessarily difficult. > > It would be possible to take this one step further, and write an .exe > builder, that automates the process of creating .exe files. > Obviously, it would require a compiler and supporting libraries. > I have a preference for GCC, and I'm not sure if you can run GCC on Windows > without Cygwin. > > I may (or may not) look into this further, in a few weeks time. > > > On Sun, Feb 3, 2019 at 2:27 AM Barry Rowlingson < > b.rowlingson at lancaster.ac.uk> wrote: > > > I don't think anyone denies that you *could* make an EXE to do all > > that. The discussion is on *how easy* it should be to create a single > > file that contains an initial "main" function plus a set of bundled > > code (potentially as a package) and which when run will install its > > package code (which is contained in itself, its not in a repo), > > install dependencies, and run the main() function. > > > > Now, I could build a self-executable shar file that bundled a package > > together with a script to do all the above. But if there was a "RUN" > > command in R, and a convention that a function called "foo::main" > > would be run by `R CMD RUN foo_1.1.1.tar.gz` then it would be so much > > easier to develop and test. > > > > If people think this adds value, then if they want to offer that value > > to me as $ or ?, I'd consider writing it if their total value was more > > than my cost.... > > > > Barry > > > > > ___________________________________________ > > > R-devel at r-project.org mailing list > > > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel > > > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > > ______________________________________________ > R-devel at r-project.org mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel >[[alternative HTML version deleted]]
Yesterday I wrote and submitted to CRAN a package `run`, which implements the ideas discussed in this thread. Given a package tarball foo_0.1.0.tar.gz, users will be able to run Rscript -e "run::run('foo_0.1.0.tar.gz')" which will pull all the dependencies of package `foo`, lookup a function `main` in that package's namespace, and call it. It's an early draft but I'd appreciate any feedback (once its submission is accepted, of course). Thanks all for your help and advice, David On Sat, Feb 2, 2019 at 3:37 PM Duncan Murdoch <murdoch.duncan at gmail.com> wrote:> On 02/02/2019 8:27 a.m., Barry Rowlingson wrote: > > I don't think anyone denies that you *could* make an EXE to do all > > that. The discussion is on *how easy* it should be to create a single > > file that contains an initial "main" function plus a set of bundled > > code (potentially as a package) and which when run will install its > > package code (which is contained in itself, its not in a repo), > > install dependencies, and run the main() function. > > > > Now, I could build a self-executable shar file that bundled a package > > together with a script to do all the above. But if there was a "RUN" > > command in R, and a convention that a function called "foo::main" > > would be run by `R CMD RUN foo_1.1.1.tar.gz` then it would be so much > > easier to develop and test. > > I don't believe the "so much easier" argument that this requires a > change to base R. If you put that functionality into a package, then > the only extra effort the user would require is to install that other > package. After that, they could run > > Rscript -e "yourpackage::run_main('foo_1.1.1.tar.gz')" > > as I suggested before. This is no harder than running > > R CMD RUN foo_1.1.1.tar.gz > > The advantage of this from R Core's perspective is that you would be > developing and maintaining "yourpackage", you wouldn't be passing the > burden on to them. The advantage from your perspective is that you > could work with whatever packages you liked. The "remotes" package has > almost everything you need so that "yourpackage" could be nearly > trivial. You wouldn't need to duplicate it within base R. > > Duncan Murdoch > > > > > If people think this adds value, then if they want to offer that value > > to me as $ or ?, I'd consider writing it if their total value was more > > than my cost.... > > > > Barry > > > > > > On Sat, Feb 2, 2019 at 12:54 AM Abs Spurdle <spurdle.a at gmail.com> wrote: > >> > >> Further to my previous post, > >> it would be possible to create an .exe file, say: > >> > >> my_r_application.exe > >> > >> That starts R, loads your R package(s), calls the R function of your > choice > >> and does whatever else you want. > >> > >> However, I don't think that it would add much value. > >> But feel free to correct me if you think that I'm wrong. > >> > >> [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > >> > >> ______________________________________________ > >> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list > >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel > > > > ______________________________________________ > > R-devel at r-project.org mailing list > > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel > > > > ______________________________________________ > R-devel at r-project.org mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel >[[alternative HTML version deleted]]