Package install problem on Windows (PR#13284)

Full_Name: Lars Hansen
Version: 2.8.0
OS: Windows XP Pro x64 SP2
Submission from: (NULL) (71.39.177.36)

Hi,

I have run into a problem using "R CMD INSTALL" with the
"--with-package-versions" option under Windows. It is a bit obscure, which could
explain why other people have not run into it.

We happen to have two packages with almost the same name. One name is a subset
of the other. The names are "RtTests" and "RtTestsEG1".  I have no problem
installing "RtTests" and many other packages, but run into problems installing
"RtTestsEG1". The "RtTestsEG1" package happens to be a simple example of how to
use the "RtTests" package, so it depends on "RtTests" (which is probably the
problem).

OK, so this is what happens when I attempt to install "RtTestsEG1":

$ R CMD INSTALL --with-package-versions --library=$R_LIBS RtTestsEG1

  installing RtTestsEG1 package

---------- Making package RtTestsEG1 ------------
  adding build stamp to DESCRIPTION
  installing R files
  preparing package RtTestsEG1 for lazy loading
Loading required package: RtTests
... [lost of lines removed]
Loading required package: RtTests
Error: evaluation nested too deeply: infinite recursion /
options(expressions=)?
Execution halted
make[2]: *** [lazyload] Error 1
make[1]: *** [all] Error 2
make: *** [pkg-RtTestsEG1] Error 2
*** Installation of RtTestsEG1 failed ***

After some digging in the Windows makefiles, I found out that changing the
locale from "C" to "us" in the "lazyload" target of
$R_HOME/src/gnuwin32/MakePkg, i.e. using "LC_ALL=us" instead of "LC_ALL=C",
solves the infinite recursion problem and give an useful message. It still fails
but now says:

Loading required package: RtTests
Warning: S3 methods 'summary.RtTestSetResults', 'print.RtTestSetResults',
'print.RtTestSetResults.summary' were declared in NAMESPACE but not found
Error in namespaceExport(ns, exports) :
  undefined exports: parseTranscriptFile, compareTranscriptAndOutput
Error: package 'RtTests' could not be loaded
Execution halted

It is true that RtTests declares the various functions in its name space, but
why can they suddenly not be found? If I load RtTests by itself, i.e.
library(RtTests), there is no problem.

I happen to have all this working under Linux, so I tracked down the difference.
Turns out that under Linux the equivalent to the "lazyload" target is in
"/usr/lib/R/bin/INSTALL" and the difference is in the argument passed to
"tools:::makeLazyLoading". Under Linux the full package name with version number
is used, i.e. "RtTests_0.1-1". Windows just uses "RtTests".

So I managed to fix the problem by making Windows use the full package name in
the "lazyload" target. I replaced
  tools:::makeLazyLoading(\"$(PKG)\"
with
  tools:::makeLazyLoading(\"$(notdir $(DPKG))\"

If I now reinstall "RtTests", I can finally install "RtTestsEG1".

I must confess, that I do not fully understand exactly what it takes to
reproduce this problem. I am guessing that all it takes is a package depending
on a versioned package. Maybe the similarity in names introduces a problem
because of partial matching. I am guessing that has nothing to do with it.

To sum up the report. I see two problems:

1) LC_ALL=C causes infinite recursion. It is as if the C locale does not work
under Windows. I do not know what the fix is. It is used many places in install
scripts and makefiles. Fixing it in the "lazyload" target is not enough. Even
with my change I still get "infinite recursion" and no error message if I try to
install "RtTestsEG1" without first installing "RtTests".

2) "makeLazyLoading()" in "lazyload" target needs to be called with full package
name with embedded version number. I think this is bug under Windows and my fix
takes care of it.

It took some time to figure this out. I am hoping this report will save other
people time. I am note sure if I succeeded in describing the problem clearly.
Please do not hesitate to ask for clarification.

Thanks,
Lars Hansen

P.S.