From gregory_r_warnes at groton.pfizer.com  Wed Jul 28 21:25:09 2004
From: gregory_r_warnes at groton.pfizer.com (Warnes, Gregory R)
Date: Wed Jul 28 21:25:42 2004
Subject: [Rd] Packages of snippets?
Message-ID: <D7A3CFD7825BD6119B880002A58F06C20C52185B@groexmb02.pfizer.com>


FWIW, I already include function 'snippets' in the gregmisc package (soon to
be a package bundle).   I would be happy to do this in a more public
fashion.

I generally require that the sumitter provide both the R code and a
corresponding .Rd file.

-Greg


> -----Original Message-----
> From: r-devel-bounces@stat.math.ethz.ch
> [mailto:r-devel-bounces@stat.math.ethz.ch]On Behalf Of Roger D. Peng
> Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 11:35 PM
> To: Duncan Murdoch
> Cc: Patrick Connolly; Barry Rowlingson; r-devel@stat.math.ethz.ch
> Subject: Re: [Rd] Packages of snippets?
> 
> 
> Duncan, I very much like your idea of a RNews/JSS "package" which 
> would contain code snippets from different contributors.  In 
> fact, I would be willing to maintain such a package if it came 
> into existence.  One note (I'm not sure if this is a flaw, 
> strictly speaking), the package would only be able to cover 
> functions.  So general "tips", for example those covered on the 
> Rtips webpage (http://www.ku.edu/~pauljohn/R/Rtips.html), would 
> not be able to make their way into the package.
> 
> Another issue is that as of now, there are many useful tools for 
> checking for errors/problems in *packages*.  But there's no real 
> way to check a single code file and a documentation file (say, an 
> .Rd file).  One possibility might be to force contributors to 
> submit something like a DESCRIPTION file for their function (with 
> the necessary contact information), along with the code and a man 
> page.  Then there would be anough material to make a fake package 
> on which to run R CMD check.
> 
> -roger
> 
> Duncan Murdoch wrote:
> 
> > [Moved from r-help to r-devel]
> > 
> > On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 09:29:12 +1200, Patrick Connolly
> > <p.connolly@hortresearch.co.nz> wrote:
> > 
> > 
> >>I made myself a function in the S-PLUS days which I've modified to
> >>work in R.  It involved adding another few functions to add dates to
> >>objects.
> > 
> > 
> > This isn't something I'd use, since I prefer to keep 
> objects in source
> > form, but I bet there are quite a few people who would use it if it
> > were generally available.
> > 
> > 
> >>I've toyed with the idea of adding an object size column 
> but it's not
> >>important enough for my use.  Since I revisit projects over a period
> >>of years at times, the date is very useful information -- in fact,
> >>it's the main reason why I wrote it.
> >>
> >>My code is not elegant enough for an esteemed place on 
> CRAN.  I could
> >>make it a lot better myself if I spent the time on it, but it works
> >>well enough for me as it is, so in that sense, it ain't broke.
> >>However, if anyone is interested in having such 
> functionality my code
> >>could be a good starting point.
> > 
> > 
> > Inelegance is no excuse!  However, I do understand the feeling of
> > writing a nice little function, and not knowing exactly what to do
> > with it:  CRAN is crowded, and it does seem that an entire package
> > just to support one or two simple functions is a bit of overkill.
> > 
> > Can we work out a way to publish such things?  Here's a 
> proposal, with
> > some serious flaws listed below.  Can someone fix them?
> > 
> >  - It should be easy to publish a short article describing your nice
> > little function, and making the code available to others.  (I think
> > this is already in place, either by publishing in RNews or 
> Journal of
> > Statistical Software, as a code snippet.)
> > 
> >  - It should be easy for users to get it, together with man pages,
> > etc.  This is not in place, unless you package your 
> function and send
> > it to CRAN.  What I'd propose is that a volunteer should act as an
> > editor of an "RNews" or "JSS" package, that contains *all* of the
> > snippets that have been published in RNews or JSS.
> > 
> > Some major flaws in this proposal are:
> > 
> >  - It needs a volunteer editor.
> > 
> >  - The editor would have to be organized, and willing to bug authors
> > for updates whenever R changes and breaks their snippet (or makes it
> > obsolete).  If there's no one willing to do this, the editor should
> > feel free to drop the snippet from the package.
> > 
> >  - There'd have to be a way for someone to see which snippets don't
> > have maintainers so have been dropped, but could be resurrected.
> > 
> >  - If it's successful, there'll be name clashes.  The editor should
> > try to head these off from the start, by setting some rules for what
> > kinds of names should be used for internal functions, and 
> what public
> > names should look like.
> > 
> >  - There aren't actually that many snippets being published, because
> > it's hard work to convert something that works "well enough 
> for me" to
> > something we'd like others to see.
> > 
> > Duncan Murdoch
> > 
> > ______________________________________________
> > R-devel@stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list
> > https://www.stat.math.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
> > 
> 
> -- 
> Roger D. Peng
> http://www.biostat.jhsph.edu/~rpeng/
> 
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel@stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list
> https://www.stat.math.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
> 


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[Rd] Packages of snippets?
Warnes, Gregory R