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https://github.com/geobosh/rdpack

R package Rdpack provides functions and macros facilitating writing and management of R documentation.
https://github.com/geobosh/rdpack

bibtex bibtex-references citations documentation r r-package rd-format roxygen2

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R package Rdpack provides functions and macros facilitating writing and management of R documentation.

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Rdpack provides functions for manipulation of R documentation objects, including functions

`reprompt()` and `ereprompt()` for updating existing Rd documentation for functions, methods

and classes; Rd macros for citations and import of references from `bibtex` files for use in

`Rd` files and `roxygen2` comments (`\insertRef`, `\insertCite`, `\insertAllCited`); Rd

macros for evaluating and inserting snippets of R code and the results of its evaluation

(`\printExample`) or creating graphics on the fly (`\insertFig`); and many functions for

manipulation of references and Rd files.



# Table of Contents



1.  [Installing Rdpack](#org8a647c9)

2.  [Inserting Bibtex references and citations](#org4e77937)

    1.  [Preparation](#org766760b)

    2.  [Inserting references](#orgf0b8e07)

    3.  [Inserting citations](#orgbff7de3)

    4.  [Changing the style of references](#orge63a829)

    5.  [Troubleshooting](#org35439dc)

        1.  [A puzzling message in devtools development mode](#orgc0ddf98)

        2.  [Typical errors](#orge94900c)

    6.  [Latex markup in BibTeX entries](#org7490870)

    7.  [Encoding of file REFERENCES.bib](#org5fd3efd)

3.  [Viewing Rd files](#orgb41e139)

4.  [Using Rdpack::reprompt()](#orgcdf91db)

    1.  [What it does](#orge44c86a)

    2.  [Reprompt and open in an editor](#org975854d)

5.  [Inserting evaluated examples](#orgb77362a)

    1.  [Evaluating the examples in section Examples](#org3bee793)

6.  [Inserting figures/graphs/plots](#org9b84bd5)






# Installing Rdpack



Install the  [latest stable version](https://cran.r-project.org/package=Rdpack) from CRAN:



    install.packages("Rdpack")



You can also install the [development version](https://github.com/GeoBosh/Rdpack) of `Rdpack` from Github:



    library(devtools)

    install_github("GeoBosh/Rdpack")






# Inserting Bibtex references and citations



The simplest way to insert Bibtex references is with the Rd macro `\insertRef`.

Just put `\insertRef{key}{package}` in the documentation to insert item with key

`key` from file `REFERENCES.bib` in your package `package`. Alternatively, use

one or more `\insertCite{key}{package}` commands to cite works from

`REFERENCES.bib`, then issue a single `\insertAllCited{}` directive to produce a

list of all cited references. For this to work

the `DESCRIPTION` file of the package needs to be amended, see below the full

details. 






## Preparation



To prepare a package for importing BibTeX references it is necessary to tell the

package management tools that package Rdpack and its Rd macros are needed. The

references should be put in file `inst/REFERENCES.bib`.  These steps are

enumerated below in somewhat more detail, see also the vignette

[`Inserting_bibtex_references`](https://cran.r-project.org/package=Rdpack).



1.  Add the following lines to  file "DESCRIPTION":

    

        Imports: Rdpack

        RdMacros: Rdpack

    

    Make sure the capitalisation of `RdMacros:` is as shown. If the field

    `RdMacros:` is already present, add "Rdpack" to the list on that

    line. Similarly for field "Imports:".



2.  Add the following line to file "NAMESPACE":

    

        importFrom(Rdpack,reprompt)

    

    The equivalent line for `roxygen2` is 

    

        #' @importFrom Rdpack reprompt



3.  Create file `REFERENCES.bib` in subdirectory `inst/` of your package and

    put the BibTeX references in it.






## Inserting references



Once the steps outlined above are done, references can be inserted in the

documentation as



    \insertRef{key}{package}



where `key` is the bibtex key of the reference and `package` is your package.

This works in `Rd` files and in `roxygen` documentation chunks.



Usually references are put in section `references`. In an `Rd` file this might look

something like:



    \references{

    \insertRef{Rdpack:bibtex}{Rdpack}

    

    \insertRef{R}{bibtex}

    }



The equivalent `roxygen2` documentation chunk would be:



    #' @references

    #' \insertRef{Rpackage:rbibutils}{Rdpack}

    #'

    #' \insertRef{R}{bibtex}



The first line above inserts the reference with key `Rpackage:rbibutils` in Rdpack's

REFERENCES.bib. The second line inserts the reference labeled `R` in file

REFERENCES.bib from package `bibtex`. 



The example above demonstrates that references from other packages can be

inserted (in this case `bibtex`), as well. This is strongly discouraged for

released versions but is convenient during development. One relatively safe use

is when the other package is also yours - this allows authors of multiple

packages to not copy the same refences to each of their own packages.



For further details see the vignette 

[`Inserting_bibtex_references`](https://cran.r-project.org/package=Rdpack)

or open it from `R`:



    vignette("Inserting_bibtex_references", package = "Rdpack")



(The latest version of the vignette is at

[`Inserting_bibtex_references (development version on github)`](https://github.com/GeoBosh/Rdpack/blob/master/vignettes/Inserting_bibtex_references.pdf).)






## Inserting citations



Additional Rd macros are available for citations.  They also can be used in both Rd and

roxygen2 documentation.



`\insertCite{key}{package}` cites `key` and records it for use by

`\insertAllCited` and `\insertCited`, see below. `key` can contain more keys separated by

commas.



`\insertCite{parseRd,Rpackage:rbibutils}{Rdpack}` produces 

(Murdoch 2010; Boshnakov and Putman 2020)

and 

`\insertCite{Rpackage:rbibutils}{Rdpack}`         gives

(Boshnakov and Putman 2020).



By default the citations are parenthesised: `\insertCite{parseRd}{Rdpack}` produces

(Murdoch 2010).  To get

textual citations, like 

Murdoch (2010), 

put the string `;textual` at the end of the key. The references in the last two sentences

would be produced with `\insertCite{parseRd}{Rdpack}` and

`\insertCite{parseRd;textual}{Rdpack}`, respectively.  This also works with several

citations, e.g.



`\insertCite{parseRd,Rpackage:rbibutils;textual}{Rdpack}` produces:

Murdoch (2010); Boshnakov and Putman (2020).



The macro `\insertNoCite{key}{package}` records one or more

references for `\insertAllCited` but does not cite it. Setting

`key` to `*` will include all references from the

specified package. For example, 

`\insertNoCite{R}{bibtex}`  and  `\insertNoCite{*}{utils}`

record the specified references for inclusion by `\insertAllCited`. 



`\insertAllCited` inserts all references cited with

`\insertCite` or `\insertNoCite`. Putting this macro

in the references section will keep it up to date automatically. 

The Rd section may look something like:



    \insertAllCited{}



or, in roxygen2, the references chunk might look like this:



    #' @references

    #'   \insertAllCited{}



Don't align the backslash with the second 'e' of `@references`, since roxygen2 may

interpret it as verbatim text, not macro.



`\insertCited{}` works like `\insertAllCited` but empties the reference list after

finishing its work. This means that the second and subsequent `\insertCited` in the same help

page will list only citations done since the preceding `\insertCited`. Prompted by issue 27

on github to allow separate reference lists for each method and the class in R6

documentation.



To mix the citations with other text, such as \`\`see also'' and \`\`chapter 3'',

write the list of keys as a free text, starting it with the symbol `@` and

prefixing each key with it.  The `@` symbol will not appear in the output. For

example, the following code



    \insertCite{@see also @parseRd and @Rpackage:rbibutils}{Rdpack}

    \insertCite{@see also @parseRd; @Rpackage:rbibutils}{Rdpack}

    \insertCite{@see also @parseRd and @Rpackage:rbibutils;textual}{Rdpack}



produces:



(see also Murdoch 2010 and Boshnakov and Putman 2020) 



(see also Murdoch 2010; Boshnakov and Putman 2020) 



see also Murdoch (2010) and Boshnakov and Putman (2020)



With the parenthesised citations, if you need markup for the text before or after the

citations, say `see also` in italic, put `;nobrackets`1 at the end of the first argument of

the Rd macro, take out the part containing markup, and put the parentheses were suitable. For

example,



    (\emph{see also} \insertCite{@@parseRd and @Rpackage:rbibutils;nobrackets}{Rdpack})



(in markdown, use `_see also_` in place of `\emph{see also})`. This gives:



(*see also* Murdoch 2010 and Boshnakov and Putman 2020) 



—



`\insertCiteOnly{key}{package}` is as `\insertCite` but does not include the key

in the list of references for `\insertAllCited`.






## Changing the style of references



Bibliography styles for lists of references are supported from Rdpack (>=

0.8). Currently the only alternative offered is to use long names (Georgi

N. Boshnakov) in place of the default style (Boshnakov GN). More comprehensive

alternatives can be included if needed or requested.



To cause all lists of references produced by `\insertAllCited` in a package to appear with

full names, add `.onLoad()` function to your package. If you don't have `.onLoad()`, just

copy the following definition: 



    .onLoad <- function(lib, pkg){

        Rdpack::Rdpack_bibstyles(package = pkg, authors = "LongNames")

        invisible(NULL)

    }



If you already have `.onLoad()`, add the line containing the

`Rdpack::Rdpack_bibstyles` call to it.



After installling/reloading your package the lists of references should appear

with long author names. "Rdpack" itself now uses this style.






## Troubleshooting






### A puzzling message in devtools development mode



The described procedure works transparently in `roxygen2` chunks and with Hadley

Wickham's package `devtools`.  Packages are built and installed properly with

the `devtools` commands and the references are processed as expected.



Currently (2017-08-04) if you run help commands `?xxx` for functions from the

package you are working on *in developement mode* and their help pages contain

references, you may encounter some puzzling warning messages, something like:



    1: In tools::parse_Rd(path) :

      ~/mypackage/man/abcde.Rd: 67: unknown macro '\insertRef'



These warnings are harmless and can be ignored — the help pages are built

properly and no warnings appear outside *developer's mode*, e.g. in a separate R

session2. Even better, use the function `viewRd()` described

below to view the required help file.






### Typical errors



The functions underlying the processing of references and citations intercept

errors, such as missing BibTeX labels or badly formed items in REFERENCES.bib,

and issue informative warnings during the building and installation of the

package, so that the developer is alerted but the package can still be built and

installed. In these cases the functions usually insert a suitable text in the

documentation, as well. If you encounter a situation contradicting this

description, it is probably a bug — please report it (but check first for the

typical errors listed below).



A non-decipherable error message is probably caused by one of the following 

typical errors:



-   misspelled `RdMacros:` field in file DESCRIPTION. The safest way to avoid this

    is to copy it from the DESCRIPTION file of a working package.



-   omitted second argument of a reference or citation macro. Most of these macros

    have the package name as a second argument.



These errors occur during parsing of the Rd files, before the control is passed

to the `Rdpack`'s macros. 






## Latex markup in BibTeX entries



In principle, BibTeX entries may contain arbitrary Latex markup, while the Rd format

supports only a subset. As a consequence, some BibTeX entries may need some editing when

included in REFERENCES.bib3. Only do this for entries that do not render properly or

cause errors, since most of the time this should not be necessary.



If mathematics doesn't render properly replace the Latex dollar syntax with Rd's `\eqn`,

e.g. `$x^2$` with `\eqn{x^2}`. This should not be needed for versions of Rdpack

0.8-4 or later. 



Some Latex macros may have to be removed or replaced with suitable Rd markup. Again,

do this only if they cause problems, since some are supported, e.g. `\doi`.



See also the overview help page, `help("Rdpack-package")`, of package `"Rdpack"`. 

Among other things, it contains some dummy references which illustrate the above.






## Encoding of file REFERENCES.bib



If a package has a declared encoding (in file `DESCRIPTION`), `REFERENCES.bib` is read-in

with that encoding4.  Otherwise, the encoding of `REFERENCES.bib` is assumed to be

UTF-8 (which includes ASCII as a subset).



Note that BibTeX entries downloaded from online databases and similar sources may contain

unexpected characters in other encodings, e.g. 'latin1'. In such cases the check tools in

R-devel (since about 2018-10-01) may give warnings like:



    prepare_Rd: input string 1 is invalid in this locale



To resolve this, convert the file to the declared encoding or UTF-8. Alternatively, replace

the offending symbols with their classic TeX/LaTeX equivalents (which are ASCII). Non-ASCII

symbols in BibTeX entries obtained from online databases are often in fields like "Abstract",

which are normally not included in lists of references and can be deleted from REFERENCES.bib.



One way to check for non-ASCII symbols in a file is `tools::showNonASCIIfile()`.



Internally, LaTeX sequences standing for accented Latin characters, such as `\'e` and `\"o`,

are converted to UTF-8.  So, even if the file REFERENCES.bib is pure ASCII, it may implicitly

give raise to non-ASCII characters. This may cause R's checking tools to complain about

non-ASCII characters even after it has been verified that there are none. If this happens,

add the encoding declaration to file DESCRIPTION5:



    Encoding: UTF-8



Needless to say, make sure that there are really no characters from encodings like 'latin1'.






# Viewing Rd files



The function `viewRd()` can be used to view Rd files in the source directory of a

package6.  A typical user call would look something like:



    Rdpack::viewRd("./man/filename.Rd")



The requested help page is shown in the default format for the current R session (taken from

`getOption("help_type")`). To request a specific format set `type` to `"html"` or `"text"`,

as in:



    Rdpack::viewRd("./man/filename.Rd", type = "html") # open in a browser

    Rdpack::viewRd("./man/filename.Rd", type = "text") # text



`viewRd()` renders references and citations correctly, since it processes Rd macros.



Users of 'devtools' can use `viewRd` in place of `help()` to view rendered Rd

sources in development mode. This should work also in development mode on any

platform (e.g. RStudio, Emacs/ESS, Rgui)7.






# Using Rdpack::reprompt()






## What it does



`Rdpack::reprompt()` updates `Rd` documentation. In the most common case when it

is called on an `Rd` file, it updates the documentation of all functions,

methods and classes documented in the file. For functions this includes

updating the usage section, adding missing aliases and `\item`'s for arguments

not described yet. For methods and classes entries for new methods and slots

are updated in a similar way. See the documentation for details.



`Rdpack::reprompt()` can also be invoked on an object or the name of an object,

just as `utils::prompt`. In that case it checks for installed documentation for

the object and works on it if found. Otherwise it creates an `Rd` file with

initial content similar to the one generated by `utils::prompt` but modified

so that the package can be built.



If a new function, say `newfun` is to be documented in an existing Rd file, just add

`newfun()` to the usage section in the file and call `Rdpack::reprompt()` to insert the

correct usage statement, add an alias, and add items for any new arguments. Put quotes around

the function name if it is non-syntactic.  For replacement functions (functions with names

ending in `<-`) `reprompt()` will insert the proper usage statement. For example, if the

signature of `xxx<-` is `(x, ..., value)`, then both, `"xxx<-"()` and `xxx() <- value` will

be replaced by `xxx(x, ...) <- value`.



`Rdpack::reprompt()` **does not remove** anything that has become obsolete 

but it alerts the user to remove aliases, methods, and descriptions of arguments

that have been removed. 






## Reprompt and open in an editor



To open the `reprompt()`-ed file, argument `edit` can be used.  For this to

work, `options("editor")` needs to be set suitably but it usually is.  If `edit

= TRUE`, then `Rdpack::reprompt()` will open the Rd file in an editor.  For more

convenient access to this feature, use `Rdpack::ereprompt()` (edit reprompt),

which calls `Rdpack::reprompt()` with `edit = TRUE` and sets the output filename

to be the same as the input filename.



In RStudio, `reprompt()` can be invoked on the `Rd` file being edited or the

selected name of an object in a source code file using RStudio add-in

`Repropmpt` (contributed by Duncan Murdoch). Obviously, this makes sense only

for Rd files not generated by `roxygen2`.



In Emacs/ESS there are various ways to use `Rdpack::reprompt()` and

`Rdpack::ereprompt()`. If `options("editor")` is set to `emacsclient`,

`Rdpack::ereprompt` is one option. It can also be assigned to a key (wrapped in

Elisp code), for example to be invoked on the currently edited file. Such a

function and example key binding can be found at [georgisemacs](https://github.com/GeoBosh/georgisemacs).






# Inserting evaluated examples



`Rdpack` provides a macro that takes a chunk of R code, evaluates it, and includes both the code and

the results in the rendered documentation. The layout is similar to that in the R console but

the code is not prefixed with anything and the output is prefixed with comment symbols.

For example,



    \printExample{2+2; a <- 2*3; a}



gives



    2 + 2

    ##: 4

    a <- 2 * 3

    a

    ##: 6



The help page of `?Rdpack::promptUsage` contains a number of examples created with

`\printExample`. The corresponding Rd file can be obtained from the package tarball or from

. 



Vignette [`Inserting_figures_and_evaluated_examples`](https://github.com/GeoBosh/Rdpack/blob/master/vignettes/Inserting_figures_and_evaluated_examples.pdf) gives further details.






## Evaluating the examples in section Examples



The macro `\runExamples` can be used as a replacement of section `examples`.  For example, if

the following code is put at the top level in an Rd file (i.e. not in a section):



    \runExamples{2+2; a <- 2*3; a}



then it will be evaluated and replaced by a normal section examples:



    \examples{

    2 + 2

    ##: 4

    a <- 2 * 3

    a

    ##: 6

    }



This generated examples section is processed by the standard R tools (almost) as if it was

there from the outset. In particular, the examples are run by the R's quality control tools

and tangled along with examples in other documentation files8. A small example package

using this feature is at [runExamplesCheck](https://github.com/GeoBosh/reprexes/tree/master/runExamplesCheck).






# Inserting figures/graphs/plots



Figures can be inserted with the help of the standard Rd markup command `\figure`.  To

generate figures on the fly, package `"Rdpack"` provides the Rd macro `\insertFig` which

takes a snipped of R code, evaluates it and inserts the plot produced by it (using

`\figure`).  `\insertFig` takes three arguments: a filename, the package name and the code to

evaluate to produce the figure.  For example,



    \insertFig{cars.png}{mypackage}{x <- cars$speed; y <- cars$dist; plot(x,y)}



will evaluate the code, save the graph in file `"man/figures/cars.png"` subdirectory of

package `"mypackage"`, and include the figure using `\figure`. 



See vignette [`Inserting_figures_and_evaluated_examples`](https://github.com/GeoBosh/Rdpack/blob/master/vignettes/Inserting_figures_and_evaluated_examples.pdf) for more details.



# Footnotes



1 From `Rdpack (> 2.1.3)` (prompted by Martin R. Smith, issue #23).



2 If you care, here is what happens.  These warnings appear

because `devtools` reroutes the help command to process the developer's Rd

sources (rather than the documentation in the installed directory) but doesn't

tell `parse_Rd` where to look for additional macros. Indeed, the message above

shows that the error is in processing a source Rd file in the development

directory of the package and that the call to `parse_Rd` specifies only the

file.



3 Thanks to Michael Dewey for suggesting the discussion of this.



4 From `Rdpack (>=0.9-1)` The issue of not handling the encoding was raised by

Professor Brian Ripley.



5 Admittedly, this is not ideal since the user should not need to care how things are

processed internally but I haven't pinpointed the exact cause for this.



6 From `Rdpack (>= 0.4-23)`.



7 In recent versions of Rstudio this function is no longer needed, since

`?fun` now handles the macros.



8 In versions of `R` before `3.6.0`  the macro `\runExamples` may cause

`R CMD check` to give a warning warning about unknown `\Sexpr` section at top level.