4 Checking you package
Although what is absolutely required for a package is fairly minimal there are a
range of things that are needed for a package to be considerd “correct”.
Keeping track of all of these can be difficult but luckily the
devtools::check() function is here to help! This function runs a series of
checks developed by some very smart people over a long period of time that are
designed to make sure your package is working correctly. It is highly
recommended that you run devtools::check() often and follow it’s advice to
fix any problems. It’s much easier to fix one or two problems when they first
come up than to try many at once after you have moved on to other things. Let’s
run the checks on our package and see what we get.
-- Building ----------------------------------------------------------- mypkg --
Setting env vars:
* CFLAGS : -Wall -pedantic
* CXXFLAGS : -Wall -pedantic
* CXX11FLAGS: -Wall -pedantic
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
√ checking for file 'C:\Users\USER\Desktop\mypkg/DESCRIPTION' (3.1s)
- preparing 'mypkg':
√ checking DESCRIPTION meta-information ...
- checking for LF line-endings in source and make files and shell scripts
- checking for empty or unneeded directories
- building 'mypkg_0.0.0.9000.tar.gz'
-- Checking ----------------------------------------------------------- mypkg --
Setting env vars:
* _R_CHECK_CRAN_INCOMING_REMOTE_: FALSE
* _R_CHECK_CRAN_INCOMING_ : FALSE
* _R_CHECK_FORCE_SUGGESTS_ : FALSE
-- R CMD check -------------------------------------------------------------------------
- using log directory 'C:/Users/USER/AppData/Local/Temp/Rtmp8eH30T/mypkg.Rcheck' (2.3s)
- using R version 3.6.0 (2019-04-26)
- using platform: x86_64-w64-mingw32 (64-bit)
- using session charset: ISO8859-1
- using options '--no-manual --as-cran'
√ checking for file 'mypkg/DESCRIPTION' ...
- this is package 'mypkg' version '0.0.0.9000'
- package encoding: UTF-8
√ checking package namespace information ...
√ checking package dependencies (1s)
√ checking if this is a source package ...
√ checking if there is a namespace
√ checking for .dll and .exe files
√ checking for hidden files and directories ...
√ checking for portable file names ...
√ checking serialization versions ...
√ checking whether package 'mypkg' can be installed (1.4s)
√ checking package directory
√ checking for future file timestamps (815ms)
√ checking DESCRIPTION meta-information (353ms)
√ checking top-level files ...
√ checking for left-over files
√ checking index information
√ checking package subdirectories ...
√ checking R files for non-ASCII characters ...
√ checking R files for syntax errors ...
√ checking whether the package can be loaded ...
√ checking whether the package can be loaded with stated dependencies ...
√ checking whether the package can be unloaded cleanly ...
√ checking whether the namespace can be loaded with stated dependencies ...
√ checking whether the namespace can be unloaded cleanly ...
√ checking loading without being on the library search path ...
√ checking dependencies in R code ...
√ checking S3 generic/method consistency (410ms)
√ checking replacement functions ...
√ checking foreign function calls ...
√ checking R code for possible problems (2.2s)
W checking for missing documentation entries ...
Undocumented code objects:
'make_shades'
All user-level objects in a package should have documentation entries.
See chapter 'Writing R documentation files' in the 'Writing R
Extensions' manual.
- checking examples ... NONE (956ms)
See
'C:/Users/USER/AppData/Local/Temp/Rtmp8eH30T/mypkg.Rcheck/00check.log'
for details.
-- R CMD check results ------------------------------------------- mypkg 0.0.0.9000 ----
Duration: 12.3s
> checking for missing documentation entries ... WARNING
Undocumented code objects:
'make_shades'
All user-level objects in a package should have documentation entries.
See chapter 'Writing R documentation files' in the 'Writing R
Extensions' manual.
0 errors √ | 1 warning x | 0 notes √You can see all the different types of checks that devtools has run but they most important section is at the end where it tells you how many errors, warnings and notes there are. Errors happen when you code has broken and failed one of the checks. If errors are not fixed your package will not work correctly. Warnings are slightly less serious but should also be addressed. Your package will probably work without fixing thise but it is highly advised that you do. Notes are advice rather than problems. It can be up to you whether or not to address them but there is usally a good reason to. Often the failed checks come with hints about how to fix them but sometimes they can be hard to understand. If you are not sure what they mean try doing an internet search and it is likely that somebody else has come across the same problem. Our package has received one warning telling us that we are missing some documentation.