R devel - Mar 2020 - configure --with-pcre1 fails with latest R 4.0 on Ubuntu 14.04

Using --with-pcre1 to configure the latest R 4.0 (revision 77988) on an 
Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS system gives me the following error:

...
checking if lzma version >= 5.0.3... yes
checking for pcre2-config... no
checking for pcre_fullinfo in -lpcre... yes
checking pcre.h usability... yes
checking pcre.h presence... yes
checking for pcre.h... yes
checking pcre/pcre.h usability... no
checking pcre/pcre.h presence... no
checking for pcre/pcre.h... no
checking if PCRE1 version >= 8.32 and has UTF-8 support... no
checking whether PCRE support suffices... configure: error: pcre2 
library and headers are required, or use --with-pcre1

Maybe the real problem is that the PCRE version on this OS is 8.31?

The error message is not particularly helpful.

Thanks,
H.

-- 
Herv? Pag?s

Program in Computational Biology
Division of Public Health Sciences
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
1100 Fairview Ave. N, M1-B514
P.O. Box 19024
Seattle, WA 98109-1024

E-mail: hpages at fredhutch.org
Phone:  (206) 667-5791
Fax:    (206) 667-1319

On 3/17/20 8:18 PM, Herv? Pag?s wrote:
> Using --with-pcre1 to configure the latest R 4.0 (revision 77988) on 
> an Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS system gives me the following error:
>
> ...
> checking if lzma version >= 5.0.3... yes
> checking for pcre2-config... no
> checking for pcre_fullinfo in -lpcre... yes
> checking pcre.h usability... yes
> checking pcre.h presence... yes
> checking for pcre.h... yes
> checking pcre/pcre.h usability... no
> checking pcre/pcre.h presence... no
> checking for pcre/pcre.h... no
> checking if PCRE1 version >= 8.32 and has UTF-8 support... no
> checking whether PCRE support suffices... configure: error: pcre2 
> library and headers are required, or use --with-pcre1
>
> Maybe the real problem is that the PCRE version on this OS is 8.31?
Yes, R requires PCRE version at least 8.32 as documented in R-Admin, and 
this is since September 2019.
> The error message is not particularly helpful.
An earlier version of the message gave the requirement explicitly, when 
people would have been more likely to have that old versions of PCRE1.
The few who still have it now need to see also the output line above to 
get the requirement and/or look into the manual.

R 4.0 is still keeping support for PCRE1 (>=8.32), but PCRE2 should be 
used whenever possible.

Best,
Tomas
>
> Thanks,
> H.
>

Thanks Tomas. Any chance the old version of the error message could be 
restored? It would definitely be more helpful than the current one. It's 
confusing to get an error and be told to use --with-pcre1 when you're 
already using it.

H.

On 3/18/20 01:08, Tomas Kalibera wrote:
> On 3/17/20 8:18 PM, Herv? Pag?s wrote:
>> Using --with-pcre1 to configure the latest R 4.0 (revision 77988) on 
>> an Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS system gives me the following error:
>>
>> ...
>> checking if lzma version >= 5.0.3... yes
>> checking for pcre2-config... no
>> checking for pcre_fullinfo in -lpcre... yes
>> checking pcre.h usability... yes
>> checking pcre.h presence... yes
>> checking for pcre.h... yes
>> checking pcre/pcre.h usability... no
>> checking pcre/pcre.h presence... no
>> checking for pcre/pcre.h... no
>> checking if PCRE1 version >= 8.32 and has UTF-8 support... no
>> checking whether PCRE support suffices... configure: error: pcre2 
>> library and headers are required, or use --with-pcre1
>>
>> Maybe the real problem is that the PCRE version on this OS is 8.31?
> 
> Yes, R requires PCRE version at least 8.32 as documented in R-Admin, and 
> this is since September 2019.
> 
>> The error message is not particularly helpful.
> 
> An earlier version of the message gave the requirement explicitly, when 
> people would have been more likely to have that old versions of PCRE1.
> The few who still have it now need to see also the output line above to 
> get the requirement and/or look into the manual.
> 
> R 4.0 is still keeping support for PCRE1 (>=8.32), but PCRE2 should be 
> used whenever possible.
> 
> Best,
> Tomas
> 
>>
>> Thanks,
>> H.
>>
> 
-- 
Herv? Pag?s

Program in Computational Biology
Division of Public Health Sciences
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
1100 Fairview Ave. N, M1-B514
P.O. Box 19024
Seattle, WA 98109-1024

E-mail: hpages at fredhutch.org
Phone:  (206) 667-5791
Fax:    (206) 667-1319