| INSTALL {base} | R Documentation |
Utility for installing add-on packages.
R CMD INSTALL [options] [-l lib] pkgs
pkgs |
A list with the path names of the packages to be installed. |
lib |
the path name of the R library tree to install to. |
options |
a list of options through which in particular the process for building the help files can be controlled. |
If used as R CMD INSTALL pkgs without explicitly specifying
lib, packages are installed into the library tree rooted at the
first directory given in the environment variable R_LIBS if
this is set and non-null, and to the default library tree (which is
rooted at ‘$R_HOME/library’) otherwise.
To install into the library tree lib, use
R CMD INSTALL -l lib pkgs.
Both lib and the elements of pkgs may be absolute or
relative path names. pkgs can also contain name of package
archive files of the form ‘pkg_version.tar.gz’ as obtained from
CRAN, these are then extracted in a temporary directory.
Some package sources contain a ‘configure’ script that can be
passed arguments or variables via the option --configure-args
and --configure-vars, respectively, if necessary. The latter
is useful in particular if libraries or header files needed for the
package are in non-system directories. In this case, one can use the
configure variables LIBS and CPPFLAGS to specify these
locations (and set these via --configure-vars), see section
“Configuration variables” in “R Installation and
Administration” for more information. One can also bypass the
configure mechanism using the option --no-configure.
If --no-docs is given, no help files are built. Options --no-text, --no-html, and --no-latex suppress creating the text, HTML, and LaTeX versions, respectively. The default is to build help files in all three versions.
If the option --save is used, the installation procedure creates a binary image of the package code, which is then loaded when the package is attached, rather than evaluating the package source at that time. Having a file ‘install.R’ in the package directory makes this the default behavior for the package (option --no-save overrides). You may need --save if your package requires other packages to evaluate its own source. If the file ‘install.R’ is non-empty, it should contain R expressions to be executed when the package is attached, after loading the saved image. Options to be passed to R when creating the save image can be specified via --save=ARGS.
If the attempt to install the package fails, leftovers are removed. If the package was already installed, the old version is restored.
Use R CMD INSTALL --help for more usage information.
Packages that require the methods package, and that use functions such
as setMethod or
setClass, should be installed by creating a
binary image.
The presence of a file named ‘install.R’ in the package's main directory causes an image to be saved. Note that the file is not in the ‘R’ subdirectory: all the code in that subdirectory is used to construct the binary image.
Normally, the file ‘install.R’ will be empty; if it does contain R expressions
these will be evaluated when the package is attached, e.g. by a call to
the function library. (Specifically, the source code
evaluated for a package with a saved image consists of a suitable
definition of .First.lib to ensure loading of the saved
image, followed by the R code in file ‘install.R’, if any.)
REMOVE,
update.packages for automatic update of packages using
the internet;
the chapter on “Creating R packages” in “Writing R
Extensions” (see the ‘doc/manual’ subdirectory of the R source
tree).