"Safe" way to automatically install required packages...

R-helpers:

? I'm working on an r-package that I want to make as easy-to-use as possible
for a novice R-user, which includes automatically installing required
packages. ? I, myself, am a novice R-packager, so the solution I came up
with was to embed:

print("Loading required packages...")
if (!require("reshape")) { install.packages("reshape") }
if (!require("reshape")) {
? print("Could not install package 'reshape', please contact your
sysadmin.")
? return()
}

? in the code proper, and put together the package using package.skeleton()
and R CMD build.

? I'm guessing there's a better way to do this -- any suggestions?
--j

--

Jonathan A. Greenberg, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Center for Spatial Technologies and Remote Sensing (CSTARS)
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
The Barn, Room 250N
Davis, CA 95616
Phone: 415-763-5476
AIM: jgrn307, MSN: jgrn307 at hotmail.com, Gchat: jgrn307

R-helpers:

? I'm working on an r-package that I want to make as easy-to-use as possible
for a novice R-user, which includes automatically installing required
packages. ? I, myself, am a novice R-packager, so the solution I came up
with was to embed:

print("Loading required packages...")
if (!require("reshape")) { install.packages("reshape") }
if (!require("reshape")) {
? print("Could not install package 'reshape', please contact your
sysadmin.")
? return()
}

? in the code proper, and put together the package using package.skeleton()
and R CMD build.

? I'm guessing there's a better way to do this -- any suggestions?
--j