R help - Sep 2003 - "Old" libraries with new R?

Hi Folks,

I'm currently installing R-1.7.1 off CRAN.

As it happens, I have a CD (kindly made for me by Linux
Emporium) containing all the libraries which were on CRAN
early this year when I installed R-1.6.1. This is highly
convenient, since the alternative would be several hours
on-line.

While a recent library will on installation announce the
fact should it need a newer version of R than the one which
is installed, presumably this is not likely to be the case
for an old library if a newer version of R is incompatible
with it.

So is there a way of finding out whether a library dating
from some time back is compatible with a recent R, other than
simply trying it out to see if it works OK?

With thanks, and best wishes to all,
Ted.


--------------------------------------------------------------------
E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding at nessie.mcc.ac.uk>
Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 167 1972
Date: 16-Sep-03                                       Time: 15:54:16
------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

(Ted Harding) wrote:
> Hi Folks,
> 
> I'm currently installing R-1.7.1 off CRAN.
> 
> As it happens, I have a CD (kindly made for me by Linux
> Emporium) containing all the libraries which were on CRAN
> early this year when I installed R-1.6.1. This is highly
> convenient, since the alternative would be several hours
> on-line.
> 
> While a recent library will on installation announce the
> fact should it need a newer version of R than the one which
> is installed, presumably this is not likely to be the case
> for an old library if a newer version of R is incompatible
> with it.
> 
> So is there a way of finding out whether a library dating
> from some time back is compatible with a recent R, other than
> simply trying it out to see if it works OK?
> 
> With thanks, and best wishes to all,
> Ted.
> 
> 
There is a dependency field in a package's DESCRIPTION file. Here the 
package author *might* give information on dependency for a minimal 
required R version. But this is not checked, and the author not always 
knows about dependencies, because he/she is probably developing on 
recent versions.

Uwe Ligges