How to install dependencies when using “R CMD INSTALL” to install R packages?

Question

I\'m developing my first R package (using R 2.13, Ubuntu 10.10). Let\'s call it foo and let\'s say that the code in the R/ directory begins with the line libra

Answer 1

Actually, re-reading the R extensions guide, it doesn't say that R CMD INSTALL will get dependencies from CRAN. The install.packages() method from within R will do that, but at first glance I don't think R CMD INSTALL does.

You can use install.packages to install from a .tar.gz, but you have to set repos=NULL, and then this applies:

 dependencies: logical indicating to also install uninstalled packages
          on which these packages depend/suggest/import (and so on
          recursively).  Not used if repos = NULL.

I suspect the thing to do is to get the dependencies out of the DESCRIPTION file and then run R and do an install.packages() on those when you are testing your build in a clean environment.