Specifying an older package from TRAN

TERR and open-source R search for packages differently. By default, the repository search {{options()$repos}} is set to {{c("https://tran.tibco.com/terr##", "https://cloud.r-project.org")}}. If a package exists in both repositories, then TERR selects the version in TRAN, but open-source R selects the newest one based on the package version number.

This search-order difference is by design, because if a newer package on CRAN causes problems when tested with TERR, TRAN contains an older version of a package that has been tested successfully with TERR.

In some cases, you must use open-source R to install a package to use with TERR. For example, under Linux, packages with source code for use in TERR often need to be installed using open-source R. If you encounter the search-difference issue with such a package, and an older version is available on TRAN, then you must take additional steps to make sure you get the working package version.

Procedure

  1. From open-source R, run install.packages(pkgname).
    The newest version of the package specified by pkgname is installed, along with its dependencies.
  2. Set options()$repos to c("https://tran.tibco.com/terr##") .
    The repository search option is set to check only the TRAN site and the version of TERR specified by the version number ##.
  3. Reinstall the needed package.
    The package is installed according to the TRAN site search option.
Related reference