Hello, All: GitHub Action has been running on 5 platforms for over a half hour on a tiny package: https://github.com/sbgraves237/SS4Maddison I'm trying to follow the current recommendation in Wickham and Bryan, R Packages.[1] I just added ~R/MaddisonProjectData.R, documenting data objects I have yet to add to the package, attempting to follow the instructions in R Packages, section 7.1.2 Documenting datasets.[2] Then "devtools::load_all()" on my local computer put R into an apparent infinite loop.[3] After breaking out of that, I managed to replicate the behavior on 5 platforms on GitHub Action. What do you suggest? Thanks, Spencer Graves [1] Wickham and Bryan, R Packages: https://r-pkgs.org/ [2] Wickham and Bryan, R Packages, section 7.1.2 Documenting datasets: https://r-pkgs.org/data.html [3] Sys.info() sysname "Darwin" release "24.6.0" version "Darwin Kernel Version 24.6.0: Mon Jul 14 11:30:30 PDT 2025; root:xnu-11417.140.69~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T6020" nodename "Mac" machine "arm64" login "root" user "sg" effective_user "sg"
[R-pkg-devel] apparent infinite loop in GitHub Action on a tiny package
5 messages · Duncan Murdoch, Spencer Graves
On 2025-09-07 3:10 p.m., Spencer Graves wrote:
Hello, All: GitHub Action has been running on 5 platforms for over a half hour on a tiny package: https://github.com/sbgraves237/SS4Maddison I'm trying to follow the current recommendation in Wickham and Bryan, R Packages.[1] I just added ~R/MaddisonProjectData.R, documenting data objects I have yet to add to the package, attempting to follow the instructions in R Packages, section 7.1.2 Documenting datasets.[2] Then "devtools::load_all()" on my local computer put R into an apparent infinite loop.[3] After breaking out of that, I managed to replicate the behavior on 5 platforms on GitHub Action. What do you suggest?
You can cancel Github actions. I'd recommend cancelling 4 of the 5, and letting the 5th run for longer. Several of them are stuck just after "* checking for sufficient/correct file permissions ... OK". I think the next test should be "checking whether package ?foo? can be installed ...", so it looks like there are installation problems. Whether those are problems in the package or problems at Github I couldn't tell you. Duncan Murdoch
Thanks, Spencer Graves [1] Wickham and Bryan, R Packages: https://r-pkgs.org/ [2] Wickham and Bryan, R Packages, section 7.1.2 Documenting datasets: https://r-pkgs.org/data.html [3] Sys.info() sysname "Darwin" release "24.6.0" version "Darwin Kernel Version 24.6.0: Mon Jul 14 11:30:30 PDT 2025; root:xnu-11417.140.69~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T6020" nodename "Mac" machine "arm64" login "root" user "sg" effective_user "sg"
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You're doing one strange thing: the only code in the package is devtools::load_all() in the single .R file. That's a weird thing to do. Duncan Murdoch
On 2025-09-07 3:10 p.m., Spencer Graves wrote:
Hello, All: GitHub Action has been running on 5 platforms for over a half hour on a tiny package: https://github.com/sbgraves237/SS4Maddison I'm trying to follow the current recommendation in Wickham and Bryan, R Packages.[1] I just added ~R/MaddisonProjectData.R, documenting data objects I have yet to add to the package, attempting to follow the instructions in R Packages, section 7.1.2 Documenting datasets.[2] Then "devtools::load_all()" on my local computer put R into an apparent infinite loop.[3] After breaking out of that, I managed to replicate the behavior on 5 platforms on GitHub Action. What do you suggest? Thanks, Spencer Graves [1] Wickham and Bryan, R Packages: https://r-pkgs.org/ [2] Wickham and Bryan, R Packages, section 7.1.2 Documenting datasets: https://r-pkgs.org/data.html [3] Sys.info() sysname "Darwin" release "24.6.0" version "Darwin Kernel Version 24.6.0: Mon Jul 14 11:30:30 PDT 2025; root:xnu-11417.140.69~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T6020" nodename "Mac" machine "arm64" login "root" user "sg" effective_user "sg"
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Hi, Duncan: That's not just weird, it's the source of the infinite loop. Please excuse me for taking your time with this. Thanks very much. Spencer Graves
On 9/7/25 14:43, Duncan Murdoch wrote:
You're doing one strange thing:? the only code in the package is ? devtools::load_all() in the single .R file.? That's a weird thing to do. Duncan Murdoch On 2025-09-07 3:10 p.m., Spencer Graves wrote:
Hello, All: GitHub Action has been running on 5 platforms for over a half hour on a tiny package: https://github.com/sbgraves237/SS4Maddison I'm trying to follow the current recommendation in Wickham and Bryan, R Packages.[1] I just added ~R/MaddisonProjectData.R, documenting data objects I have yet to add to the package, attempting to follow the instructions in R Packages, section 7.1.2 Documenting datasets.[2] Then "devtools::load_all()" on my local computer put R into an apparent infinite loop.[3] After breaking out of that, I managed to replicate the behavior on 5 platforms on GitHub Action. What do you suggest? Thanks, Spencer Graves [1] Wickham and Bryan, R Packages: https://r-pkgs.org/ [2] Wickham and Bryan, R Packages, section 7.1.2 Documenting datasets: https://r-pkgs.org/data.html [3] Sys.info() ??????????????????????????? sysname ?????????????????????????? "Darwin" ??????????????????????????? release ?????????????????????????? "24.6.0" ??????????????????????????? version "Darwin Kernel Version 24.6.0: Mon Jul 14 11:30:30 PDT 2025; root:xnu-11417.140.69~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T6020" ?????????????????????????? nodename ????????????????????????????? "Mac" ??????????????????????????? machine ??????????????????????????? "arm64" ????????????????????????????? login ???????????????????????????? "root" ?????????????????????????????? user ?????????????????????????????? "sg" ???????????????????? effective_user ?????????????????????????????? "sg"
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1 day later
p.s. I filed I reported an "issue" on GitHub with title, "devtools::load_all() infinite recursion #2617" suggesting that load_all() be modified to prevent an infinite recursion: https://github.com/r-lib/devtools/issues/2617 Thanks again to Duncan -- and to this email list more generally. Spencer Graves ########## Hi, Duncan: That's not just weird, it's the source of the infinite loop. Please excuse me for taking your time with this. Thanks very much. Spencer Graves
On 9/7/25 14:43, Duncan Murdoch wrote:
You're doing one strange thing:? the only code in the package is ? devtools::load_all() in the single .R file.? That's a weird thing to do. Duncan Murdoch On 2025-09-07 3:10 p.m., Spencer Graves wrote:
Hello, All: GitHub Action has been running on 5 platforms for over a half hour on a tiny package: https://github.com/sbgraves237/SS4Maddison I'm trying to follow the current recommendation in Wickham and Bryan, R Packages.[1] I just added ~R/MaddisonProjectData.R, documenting data objects I have yet to add to the package, attempting to follow the instructions in R Packages, section 7.1.2 Documenting datasets.[2] Then "devtools::load_all()" on my local computer put R into an apparent infinite loop.[3] After breaking out of that, I managed to replicate the behavior on 5 platforms on GitHub Action. What do you suggest? Thanks, Spencer Graves [1] Wickham and Bryan, R Packages: https://r-pkgs.org/ [2] Wickham and Bryan, R Packages, section 7.1.2 Documenting datasets: https://r-pkgs.org/data.html [3] Sys.info() ??????????????????????????? sysname ?????????????????????????? "Darwin" ??????????????????????????? release ?????????????????????????? "24.6.0" ??????????????????????????? version "Darwin Kernel Version 24.6.0: Mon Jul 14 11:30:30 PDT 2025; root:xnu-11417.140.69~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T6020" ?????????????????????????? nodename ????????????????????????????? "Mac" ??????????????????????????? machine ??????????????????????????? "arm64" ????????????????????????????? login ???????????????????????????? "root" ?????????????????????????????? user ?????????????????????????????? "sg" ???????????????????? effective_user ?????????????????????????????? "sg"
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