Display instruction text on package load

| I'm currently working on a new package for R that interfaces with an API.
| Most of the package's functionality requires users to supply an access key
| that allows the package to work with the API. I want to display text
| immediately upon loading the package that instructs/reminds users to enter
| their access key before attempting to do anything (as the package won't
| really work without it). I've searched the relevant help files for creating
| packages but haven't been able find anything about how to do this. As an
| example, library(Zelig) does what I'm trying to achieve.

Start with

      help(packageStartupMessage)
      help(.onLoad)

and also peruse the list archives here---you probably want this in your
.onLoad() function. 

Maybe some of the packages interfacing Google's APIs and webservices have an
example.

Dirk

R/Finance 2012 Conference on May 11 and 12, 2012 at UIC in Chicago, IL
See agenda, registration details and more at http://www.RinFinance.com

I'm currently working on a new package for R that interfaces with an API.
Most of the package's functionality requires users to supply an access key
that allows the package to work with the API. I want to display text
immediately upon loading the package that instructs/reminds users to enter
their access key before attempting to do anything (as the package won't
really work without it). I've searched the relevant help files for creating
packages but haven't been able find anything about how to do this. As an
example, library(Zelig) does what I'm trying to achieve.

Thanks for your help! And sorry if there's an obvious answer to this that I
am oblivious to.
-Thomas

?.onAttach
?packageStartupMessage

(You could also look at the sources for package Zelig, but actually it 
is a poor example since it ignores the arguments to .onAttach, and 
wastes time calling packageDescription() twice.)

Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272866 (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595

I'm currently working on a new package for R that interfaces with an API.
Most of the package's functionality requires users to supply an access key
that allows the package to work with the API. I want to display text
immediately upon loading the package that instructs/reminds users to enter
their access key before attempting to do anything (as the package won't
really work without it). I've searched the relevant help files for creating
packages but haven't been able find anything about how to do this. As an
example, library(Zelig) does what I'm trying to achieve.

Thanks for your help! And sorry if there's an obvious answer to this that I
am oblivious to.
-Thomas

You can create functions that run when your package is attached (put 
onto the search list) or loaded (loaded into memory, possibly because 
another package is using it).  You can read about these in the "Load 
Hooks" section of the Writing R Extensions manual, or the ?.onLoad help 
page.

Duncan Murdoch

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