R CMD build when the package name is different from the directory name

Arne Henningsen <ahenningsen at agric-econ.uni-kiel.de> writes:

Hi,

I was really happy when I saw that in R version 2.3.0 "R CMD check" works
for packages whose package name is different from the directory name in
which it is located (see http://cran.r-project.org/src/base/NEWS).
Now, I can have branches of my packages in directories like
"[...]/branches/<version number>/", while I had to use
"[...]/branches/<version number>/<package name>" before.
"R CMD check <version number>" runs as expected but when I build the
package with "R CMD build <version number>", the file name of the source
package is "<version number>_<version number>-<patch level>.tar.gz" (and
not "<package name>_<version number>-<patch level>.tar.gz"). Furthermore
the base directory inside the .tar.gz archive is "<version number>" (and
not "<package name>").

I think that's a feature.  Note that R CMD INSTALL on such a package
does install the package under its "real" name.

It is a feature because it allows me to distinguish the tarballs from
each other.

Perhaps you can make this work for you by using a more meaningful
description than version number in your branch name.  For example:

.../branches/foo-release
.../branches/foo-devel
.../branches/foo-someNewFeature

As another poster suggested, an SCM is the right tool for tracking
versions.

+ seth