Re: We need a global decision about R data in binary format, and stick to it.
On Mon, 05 Aug 2013, Ian Jackson wrote:
> The other is the assertion that this particular case involves a
> generated data table. If this is the case then the source package
> needs to contain the source code which generates the table - and,
> really, it should regenerate the table during the build. (The source
> might be in the form of another R binary object.)
I know of almost no cases where someone actually generated the R binary
object directly.
In general, you have a data table represented as some kind of text file,
and then you do operations on it, which result in a R binary object
being created from a collection of text files. Subsequently, you might
load the R binary object and modify it within R, but for some
modifications, you might want to go back to the original data table.
It's unfortunately common practice for R upstreams to ship the binary
object instead of the combination of original tables and R source
necessary to generate the actual R binary save data, but this is
something that should be changed, and Debian should be working to lead
the charge to do this.
In almost all cases, dropping the R binary object(s) do not appreciably
change the functionality of the R module; it just means that it is more
difficult to use the examples because there is no example data.
--
Don Armstrong http://www.donarmstrong.com
in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little lame baloonman
whistles far and wee
-- e.e. cummings "[in Just-]"
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