I just downloaded the source matrixcalc package to see what it contained.
The functions
I looked at seem fairly straightforward and the OP could likely develop
equivalent features
in his own code, possibly avoiding a function call. Avoiding the function
call means NAMESPACE etc. are not involved, so fewer places for getting
into
trouble, assuming the inline code works properly.
JN
On 2021-06-02 12:37 p.m., Duncan Murdoch wrote:
On 02/06/2021 12:13 p.m., Ben Staton wrote:
Hello,
I received an email notice from CRAN indicating that my R package
('postpack') will be archived soon if I do not take any action and I
want
to avoid that outcome. The issue is not caused by my package, but
instead a
package that my package depends on:
"... package 'matrixcalc' is now scheduled for archival on 2021-06-09,
and archiving this will necessitate also archiving its strong reverse
dependencies."
Evidently, xyz has been returning errors on new R builds prompting CRAN
to
list it as a package to be archived. My package, 'postpack' has
'matrixcalc' listed in the Imports field, which I assume is why I
received
this email.
I want to keep 'postpack' active and don't want it to be archived. I
still
need package 'matrixcalc' for my package, but not for most functions.
Could
I simply move package 'matrixcalc' to the Suggests list and submit the
new
version to CRAN to remove the "Strong Reverse Dependency" issue that
triggered this email to avoid CRAN from archiving my package?
That's part of one solution, but not the best solution.
If you move it to Suggests, you should make sure that your package
checks for it before every use, and falls back to
some other calculation if it is not present. Be aware that once it is
archived, almost none of your users will have it
available, so this is kind of like dropping the functions that it
supports.
Another solution which would be great for the community might be for you
to offer to take over as maintainer of
matrixcalc. Then you'd fix whatever problems it has, and you wouldn't
need to worry about it. I haven't looked at the
issues so I don't know if this is feasible.
A third choice would be for you to copy the functions you need from
matrixcalc into your own package so you can drop the
dependency. This is generally legal under the licenses that CRAN
accepts, but you should check anyway.
A fourth choice would be for you to contact the matrixcalc maintainer,
and help them to fix the issues so that
matrixcalc doesn't get archived. They may or may not be willing to work
with you.
I'd say my third choice is the best choice in the short term, and 2nd or
4th would be good long term solutions.
Duncan Murdoch
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