On 14/09/2020 10:30 a.m., Wang, Zhu wrote:
In mypkg, I want to call a function foo from pkg, and foo is not exported. I
thought I should use pkg:: or pkg:::, but R CMD check provided a warning.
I'm assuming that mypkg is not the same as pkg; Jeff Newmiller's answer
assumes the opposite.
In that case where they are different, there is only one circumstance
where you should be calling foo, and you'll have to do it using
foo:::pkg. That circumstance is that you are the maintainer of both
packages. You should explain this in your submission message, and ask
CRAN to ignore the warning if there is one.
The reason for this is the following. If someone else is maintaining
pkg, then they are free to change the behaviour of foo without any
consideration for you, because as an internal function, they have no
contract with you to maintain its behaviour. On the other hand, if you
maintain both packages, then you should be ready to modify mypkg as soon
as you modify pkg:::foo.
Duncan Murdoch
Thanks,
Zhu
You don't need either pkg:: or pkg::: if you are calling the function from
within the package. You may need one of those if the call is coming from a
user script.
-----Original Message-----
From: Duncan Murdoch <murdoch.dun...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2020 7:17 AM
To: Wang, Zhu <wan...@uthscsa.edu>; David Kepplinger <david.kepplin...@gmail.com>; R
Package Devel <r-package-devel@r-project.org>
Subject: Re: [R-pkg-devel] Use of `:::` in a package for code run in a parallel
cluster
On 13/09/2020 8:47 p.m., Wang, Zhu wrote:
Apologize if I hijack this thread, but the use of ::: is something I was
puzzled.
I tried Duncan's solution in my R package mypkg, something like:
pkg::callInternal("foo", args)
R CMD check mypkg
* checking dependencies in R code ... WARNING '::' or ':::' import not
declared from: ‘pkg'
I probably missed something here.
You don't need either pkg:: or pkg::: if you are calling the function from
within the package. You may need one of those if the call is coming from a
user script.
If you use pkg:: from mypkg, you need to declare that mypkg Imports pkg.
(This is a line in its DESCRIPTION file.) I think that's what the WARNING
is telling you.
Duncan Murdoch
Thanks,
Zhu
-----Original Message-----
From: R-package-devel <r-package-devel-boun...@r-project.org> On
Behalf Of Duncan Murdoch
Sent: Sunday, September 13, 2020 3:20 PM
To: David Kepplinger <david.kepplin...@gmail.com>; R Package Devel
<r-package-devel@r-project.org>
Subject: Re: [R-pkg-devel] Use of `:::` in a package for code run in a
parallel cluster
On 13/09/2020 3:51 p.m., David Kepplinger wrote:
Dear list members,
I submitted an update for my package and got automatically rejected
by the incoming checks (as expected from my own checks) for using
`:::` calls to access the package's namespace.
"There are ::: calls to the package's namespace in its code. A
package
*almost* never needs to use ::: for its own objects:…" (emphasis
mine)
This was a conscious decision on my part as the package runs code on
a user-supplied parallel cluster and I consider cluster-exporting the
required functions a no-go as it would potentially overwrite objects
in the clusters R sessions. The package code does not own the cluster
and hence the R sessions. Therefore overwriting objects could
potentially lead to unintended behaviour which is opaque to the user and
difficult to debug.
Another solution to circumvent the R CMD check note is to export the
functions to the public namespace but mark them as internal. This was
also suggested in another thread on this mailing list (c.f.
"Etiquette for package submissions that do not automatically pass
checks?"). I do not agree with this work-around as the methods are
indeed internal and should never be used by users. Exporting truly
internal functions for the sake of satisfying R CMD check is a bad
argument, in particular if there is a clean, well-documented,
solution by using `:::`
Who is calling this function: package code or user code? I assume
it's a bit of a mix: your package writes a script that calls the
function when it runs in user space. (It would help if you gave an
explicit example of when you need to use this technique.)
If my assumption is correct, there are other simple workarounds
besides exporting the functions. Instead of putting
pkg:::foo(args)
into your script, put
pkg::callInternal("foo", args)
where pkg::callInternal is an exported function that can look up unexported
functions in the namespace.
You may argue that you prefer pkg:::foo for some reason: to which I'd respond
that you are being rude to the CRAN volunteers. I've offered two options (one
in the previous thread, a different one here), and there was a third one in
that thread offered by Ivan Krylov. Surely one of these is good enough for
your needs, and you shouldn't force CRAN to handle you specially.
Duncan
I argue `:::` is the only clean solution to this problem and no dirty
work-arounds are necessary. This is a prime example of where `:::` is
actually useful and needed inside a package. If the R community
disagrees, I think R CMD check should at least emit a WARNING instead
of a NOTE and elaborate on the problem and accepted work-arounds in
"Writing R extensions". Or keep emitting a NOTE but listing those
nebulous reasons where `:::` would be tolerated inside a package.
Having more transparent criteria for submitting to CRAN would be
really helpful to the entire R community and probably also reduce the traffic
on this mailing list.
Best,
David
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