9 Filestructure

9.1 Introduction

In this chapter we describe the anatomy of a package: the types of files and their organization into various directories.

9.2 Scenarios

The following diagram depicts three possible (hypothetical) filestructures for a package. From a minimal version, to the default contents created by "devtools", to a more sophisticated structure.

Three possible filestructures for a package

Figure 9.1: Three possible filestructures for a package

9.3 Minimal Package

The first option is what it’s considered to be a minimal package.

Filestructure of a minimal package

Figure 9.2: Filestructure of a minimal package

Every package must have at least the following four components:

  • DESCRIPTION file
  • NAMESPACE file
  • R/ directory
  • man/ directory

Without any of these four elements, you won’t be able to create a valid R package.

9.4 Default devtools setting

The second option corresponds to the default structure generated by RStudio when you use an RStudio project—via the package "devtools".

Default filestructure created by devtools

Figure 9.3: Default filestructure created by devtools

In addition to the files and directories of the previous option, now there are two more files:

  • A text file .Rproj (i.e. an RStudio project file)
  • A text file .Rbuildignore file

9.5 Our working example

The third option is the actual structure for our working example.

Filestructure of the working example

Figure 9.4: Filestructure of the working example

Starting with a default structure, we can add more elements like a README.md files, and directories for tests/ and vignettes/. The extra directory inst/ is generated in the building process.

You can add more files and directories to make a more complex and robust package. However, to keep a focused scope on this book we will concentrate on the above structure.

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