How to debug package in r-devel if dependent packages won't install?

[katiesaund]

I'm trying to submit a package to CRAN for the first time. My package (https://github.com/Snitkin-Lab-Umich/prewas) passes the check on mac and windows for R 3.6.2. But several unit tests fail on R devel (4.0). I'm trying to debug my package in 4.0 on my local, but I'm stuck because I can't install all of the packages my package depends on. Some install just fine, but not all. For example I need the package "ape" so I tried to install it but it fails:

install.packages("ape", type = "source")

Output:

Warning in install.packages :
  installation of package ‘ape’ had non-zero exit status

Is it a common problem to have packages on CRAN not install on R devel?

How can people debug their packages on r-devel if dependencies won't install? Any suggestions / link would be greatly appreciated!

[rstub]

The package maintainer gets informed if a package on CRAN cannot be installed with R devel. They then get some set amount of time to fix the issues. This makes it rather uncommon for CRAN packages to not install on R devel. Indeed, looking at the CRAN page for ape, you can see that the checks on R devel are fine and that even binary packages are available.

Have you tried the available binary packages? What error messages do you get before that final non-zero exit status?

[katiesaund]

Thanks for the quick response!

Here's the console results when I try to install ape there:

> install.packages("ape", type = "source")
trying URL 'https://cran.rstudio.com/src/contrib/ape_5.3.tar.gz'
Content type 'application/x-gzip' length 793073 bytes (774 KB)
==================================================
downloaded 774 KB

* installing *source* package ‘ape’ ...
** package ‘ape’ successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
** using staged installation
** libs
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c BIONJ.c -o BIONJ.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c NNI.c -o NNI.o
clang++ -std=gnu++11 -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c RcppExports.cpp -o RcppExports.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c SPR.c -o SPR.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c TBR.c -o TBR.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c additive.c -o additive.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c ape.c -o ape.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c bNNI.c -o bNNI.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c bionjs.c -o bionjs.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c bipartition.c -o bipartition.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c bitsplits.c -o bitsplits.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c delta_plot.c -o delta_plot.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c dist_dna.c -o dist_dna.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c dist_nodes.c -o dist_nodes.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c ewLasso.c -o ewLasso.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c heap.c -o heap.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c mat_expo.c -o mat_expo.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c me.c -o me.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c me_balanced.c -o me_balanced.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c me_ols.c -o me_ols.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c mvr.c -o mvr.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c mvrs.c -o mvrs.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c nj.c -o nj.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c njs.c -o njs.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c pic.c -o pic.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c plot_phylo.c -o plot_phylo.o
clang++ -std=gnu++11 -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c prop_part.cpp -o prop_part.o
prop_part.cpp:49:29: warning: unused variable 'KeepPartition' [-Wunused-variable]
    int nbtree = tr.size(), KeepPartition=1;
                            ^
1 warning generated.
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c rTrait.c -o rTrait.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c read_dna.c -o read_dna.o
read_dna.c:341:51: warning: array subscript is of type 'char' [-Wchar-subscripts]
    for (long i = 0; i < n; i++) rs[i] = tab_trans[xr[i]];
                                                  ^~~~~~
1 warning generated.
clang++ -std=gnu++11 -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c reorder_Rcpp.cpp -o reorder_Rcpp.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c reorder_phylo.c -o reorder_phylo.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c treePop.c -o treePop.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c tree_build.c -o tree_build.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c tree_phylo.c -o tree_phylo.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c triangMtd.c -o triangMtd.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c triangMtds.c -o triangMtds.o
clang -I"/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/include" -DNDEBUG  -I'/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/Rcpp/include' -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -I/usr/local/include   -fPIC  -Wall -g -O2  -c ultrametric.c -o ultrametric.o
clang++ -std=gnu++11 -dynamiclib -Wl,-headerpad_max_install_names -undefined dynamic_lookup -single_module -multiply_defined suppress -L/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/lib -L/usr/local/lib -o ape.so BIONJ.o NNI.o RcppExports.o SPR.o TBR.o additive.o ape.o bNNI.o bionjs.o bipartition.o bitsplits.o delta_plot.o dist_dna.o dist_nodes.o ewLasso.o heap.o mat_expo.o me.o me_balanced.o me_ols.o mvr.o mvrs.o nj.o njs.o pic.o plot_phylo.o prop_part.o rTrait.o read_dna.o reorder_Rcpp.o reorder_phylo.o treePop.o tree_build.o tree_phylo.o triangMtd.o triangMtds.o ultrametric.o -L/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/lib -lRlapack -L/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/lib -lRblas -L/usr/local/gfortran/lib/gcc/x86_64-apple-darwin15/6.1.0 -L/usr/local/gfortran/lib -lgfortran -lquadmath -lm -F/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/.. -framework R -Wl,-framework -Wl,CoreFoundation
ld: warning: directory not found for option '-L/usr/local/gfortran/lib/gcc/x86_64-apple-darwin15/6.1.0'
ld: warning: directory not found for option '-L/usr/local/gfortran/lib'
ld: library not found for -lgfortran
clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
make: *** [ape.so] Error 1
ERROR: compilation failed for package ‘ape’
* removing ‘/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.0/Resources/library/ape’
Warning in install.packages :
  installation of package ‘ape’ had non-zero exit status

To me, that seems like the issue is not having gfortran on my local. So I installed gfortran into /usr/local/bin/gfortran and also Xcode (some things I read made it seem like I might need Xcode as well). Then I tried to install ape again and it worked!

It was really helpful to know that I should expect ape to install -- I had previously thought this was all a lost cause. Thanks!

[rstub]

Great that you got it working! I am not a Mac user myself, but when I had the need to configure compilers for R o a Mac, I found https://thecoatlessprofessor.com/programming/cpp/r-compiler-tools-for-rcpp-on-macos/ most useful.