Understanding Package Structure: Description and Namespace Files

As you have seen the basic structure of a package, now it's time to dive deeper into two important aspects of your package: description and namespace files. These files contain crucial information that helps users understand and interact with your package.

The Description File

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The description file contains basic information about the package, including its authors and maintainer, dependencies, and license. This file is used by people to judge the content of your package when searching for new packages. It's essential to keep this information relevant and descriptive, and update it whenever you change the package.

The basic package metadata includes the package name that you chose when you created the package as well as a one-line title for your package and a short description. This is the information people typically use to decide whether or not to install your package. Make sure to keep this relevant and descriptive, and update it if you change the package.

The version field tells us which version of the package this is when you start making changes to your package. It's essential to remember to increment the version number whenever you make changes to your package, as this will allow you and others to keep track of which version of the package they are working with.

In addition to the basic metadata, the description file also includes fields for license, authors, maintainer, contributors, copyright holder, and depends/imports. The license defines how other people can use and distribute your package. The authors field lists the package authors, along with their first name, last name, email address, and role (abbreviated). There are many possibilities for roles, but most common for packages are CR e for the maintainer, aut for an author, CTB for contributors, and CP hich for the copyright holder.

The authors field can have multiple people, simply providing a vector of person calls one for each person. The last entry in this list is usually for the package copyright holder, which is often used when a company owns the copyright on a package. People can have multiple roles, and you just supply them as a vector.

The depends and imports fields ensure that any other package your package needs is installed and available to use before someone tries to run the code. The minimum version of your package listed in the depends field, while other package dependencies are listed in the imports field.

Namespace File

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The namespace file allows you to control two very important things: which functions from other packages you need access to to run the curd (code) in your package, and which functions from your package you want to make available to people using it. You will come back to both of these ideas later, but for now, all you need to know is that you don't need to edit this file.

Instead, you will manage it with all of your other documentation. This file always contains a reminder not to edit it, but otherwise, it provides insight into what's happening in your package. In the example provided, you can see that in this package, you are importing or making available to your package the functions from deep liar (from another package) and exporting the functions from your package.

Your Turn: Creating a Description File

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Now that you have seen these two important files, it's time for you to try creating a description file for your package. Take some time to think about what information you want to include in this file, such as the package name, one-line title, short description, version number, and dependencies.

Remember to keep your description relevant and descriptive, and update it whenever you change the package. Don't forget to increment the version number whenever you make changes to your package. With practice and experience, creating a description file will become second nature, and you'll be able to easily communicate the details of your package to others.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ennow you've seen the basic structure of a package and know what to do with your are functions let's take a look at two important aspects of your package the description and namespace the description file contains basic information about the package including its authors and maintainer its dependencies and the license let's take a look at an example description file now the basic package metadata includes the package name that you chose when you created the package as well as a one-line title for your package and a short description this is the information people typically use to judge the content of your package when searching for new packages so keep it relevant and descriptive and make sure you update it if you change the package the version field tells us which version of the package this is when you start making changes to your package you should remember to increment the version number this will allow you and others to keep track of which version of the package they are working with then we have the license this defines how other people can use ocurred in your package the authors at our field is where you list the package authors as occurred the our function person helps us to keep this in the right format you need to give the first name last name email and royal the role is an abbreviation and there are many many possibilities you could use but most common for our packages are CR e for the package maintainer aut for an author CTB for contributors and CP hich for the package copyright holder this is often used when a company owns copyright on a package people can have multiple roles you just supply them as a vector like in the example here you can also have multiple people you simply need to provide a vector of person calls one for each person the last entries of nerds are the depends and imports fields these ensure that any other package your package needs is installed and is available to use before someone tries to run the code you'll be looking at the differences between depends and imports later in this course but for now you can see that the minimum version of our is listed in the depends field and other package dependencies are listed in the imports field the namespace file allows you to control two very important things firstly which functions from other packages you need access to to run the curd in our package secondly which functions from your package you want to make available to people using it you will come back to both of these ideas later but all you need to know now is that you don't need to edit this file you will manage it with all of your other documentation for now let's just take a quick look at what a complete namespace might look like this file always contains a reminder to us not to edit it but otherwise you can see that in this package you are importing or making available to your package the functions from deep liar from your package you are exporting are making available to the package users any accounter now you have seen these two important files it's your turn to try creating a description file for your packagenow you've seen the basic structure of a package and know what to do with your are functions let's take a look at two important aspects of your package the description and namespace the description file contains basic information about the package including its authors and maintainer its dependencies and the license let's take a look at an example description file now the basic package metadata includes the package name that you chose when you created the package as well as a one-line title for your package and a short description this is the information people typically use to judge the content of your package when searching for new packages so keep it relevant and descriptive and make sure you update it if you change the package the version field tells us which version of the package this is when you start making changes to your package you should remember to increment the version number this will allow you and others to keep track of which version of the package they are working with then we have the license this defines how other people can use ocurred in your package the authors at our field is where you list the package authors as occurred the our function person helps us to keep this in the right format you need to give the first name last name email and royal the role is an abbreviation and there are many many possibilities you could use but most common for our packages are CR e for the package maintainer aut for an author CTB for contributors and CP hich for the package copyright holder this is often used when a company owns copyright on a package people can have multiple roles you just supply them as a vector like in the example here you can also have multiple people you simply need to provide a vector of person calls one for each person the last entries of nerds are the depends and imports fields these ensure that any other package your package needs is installed and is available to use before someone tries to run the code you'll be looking at the differences between depends and imports later in this course but for now you can see that the minimum version of our is listed in the depends field and other package dependencies are listed in the imports field the namespace file allows you to control two very important things firstly which functions from other packages you need access to to run the curd in our package secondly which functions from your package you want to make available to people using it you will come back to both of these ideas later but all you need to know now is that you don't need to edit this file you will manage it with all of your other documentation for now let's just take a quick look at what a complete namespace might look like this file always contains a reminder to us not to edit it but otherwise you can see that in this package you are importing or making available to your package the functions from deep liar from your package you are exporting are making available to the package users any accounter now you have seen these two important files it's your turn to try creating a description file for your package\n"