R Observatory: Metrics for switchr version 0.14.8

Balamuta, James Joseph

doi:10.5281/zenodo.21843040

switchr

0.14.8Package record

Installing, Managing, and Switching Between Distinct Sets of Installed Packages

0packages depend

3.8Kdownloads / year

18.0%test coverage

7/13flavors OK

Overview

About

Maintained by Gabriel BeckerCRAN page ↗GitHub ↗Issues ↗

Provides an abstraction for managing, installing, and switching between sets of installed R packages. This allows users to maintain multiple package libraries simultaneously, e.g. to maintain strict, package-version-specific reproducibility of many analyses, or work within a development/production release paradigm. Introduces a generalized package installation process which supports multiple repository and non-repository sources and tracks package provenance.

Install

R (CRAN)pak (dev)Ubuntu (r2u)openSUSE (OBS)

install.packages("switchr", repos = "https://cloud.r-project.org/")

Installs the current CRAN release. Prebuilt binaries on Windows and macOS.

if (!requireNamespace("pak", quietly = TRUE))
  install.packages("pak", repos = "https://cloud.r-project.org/")
pak::pak("gmbecker/switchr")

Development version from gmbecker/switchr. Installs pak first if it is not already available.

Release

# enable cranapt (r2u) if it is not already set up, then install
grep -rqs r2u.stat.illinois.edu /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ \
  || curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eddelbuettel/r2u/master/inst/scripts/add_cranapt_noble.sh | sudo bash
sudo apt install -y r-cran-switchr

Fast Ubuntu binaries via r2u (no compilation). The cranapt setup runs once and is skipped when it is already enabled. We list this channel from recorded r2u download activity rather than from a live index of the repository, so treat it as last known rather than guaranteed.

bspm (used by r2u) also needs make: sudo apt install make

# add the autoCRAN OBS repo (Tumbleweed) if it is missing, then install
zypper -q lr | grep -qi autoCRAN \
  || sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:/languages:/R:/autoCRAN/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/devel:languages:R:autoCRAN.repo
sudo zypper install -y R-switchr

RPMs auto-built from CRAN on openSUSE OBS (Tumbleweed). We list this channel from recorded autoCRAN download activity rather than from a live index of the repository, so treat it as last known rather than guaranteed.

Health

CRAN checks

4ERROR2NOTE7OK

Check messages

ERRORtestsr-devel-windows-x86_64, r-release-macos-arm64, r-release-macos-x86_64, r-release-windows-x86_64

r-devel-windows-x86_64, r-release-windows-x86_64

Running 'winpath.R' [7s]
Running the tests in 'tests/winpath.R' failed.
Complete output:
  > library(switchr)
  > ## if(getOption("repos")["CRAN"] == "@CRAN@")
  > ##     chooseCRANmirror(ind=1L)
  > graceful_inet(TRUE)
  $on
  [1] TRUE
  
  $silent
  [1] FALSE
  
  > checkUrlRoundtrip = function(pth) {
  +     pth = switchr:::normalizePath2(pth)
  +     furl = switchr:::makeFileURL(pth)
  +     pth2 = switchr:::fileFromFileURL(furl)
  +     if(pth != pth2)
  +         stop("Round trip result (", pth2, ") does not match original (", pth, ") when creating file URLs")
  + }
  > 
  > ## regression test to ensure that the roundtrip
  > ## between path and file url is working properly
  > checkUrlRoundtrip(getwd())
  > checkUrlRoundtrip(tempdir())
  > if(switchr:::isWindows())
  +     checkUrlRoundtrip("\\\\localhost\\c$")
  > 
  > ## regreossion test to ensure that package dependencies
  > ## are added to the dontunload list when a package
  > ## is specified
  > bef = switchrDontUnload()
  > af = switchrDontUnload("knitr")
  > stopifnot(all(tools::package_dependencies("knitr", recursive = TRUE)[[1]] %in% af))
  > 
  > 
  > ## regression test for unnecessary (and expensive)
  > ## lazy repo construction when install_packages
  > ## is passed urls for existing repos (the default
  > ## behavior).
  > tmplib = tempdir()
  > trace(lazyRepo, stop)
  Tracing function "lazyRepo" in environment <namespace:switchr>
  Warning: Tracing only in the namespace; to untrace you will need:
  untrace("lazyRepo", where = getNamespace("switchr"))
  [1] "lazyRepo"
  attr(,"package")
  [1] "switchr"
  > install_packages("switchr", repos = defaultRepos(), lib = tmplib)
  Error in rbind(avail1, avail2[new, ]) : 
    number of columns of matrices must match (see arg 2)
  Calls: install_packages ... install_packages -> install_packages -> .install_packages -> rbind
  Execution halted

r-release-macos-arm64

Running ‘winpath.R’ [1s/4s]
Running the tests in ‘tests/winpath.R’ failed.
Complete output:
  > library(switchr)
  > ## if(getOption("repos")["CRAN"] == "@CRAN@")
  > ##     chooseCRANmirror(ind=1L)
  > graceful_inet(TRUE)
  $on
  [1] TRUE
  
  $silent
  [1] FALSE
  
  > checkUrlRoundtrip = function(pth) {
  +     pth = switchr:::normalizePath2(pth)
  +     furl = switchr:::makeFileURL(pth)
  +     pth2 = switchr:::fileFromFileURL(furl)
  +     if(pth != pth2)
  +         stop("Round trip result (", pth2, ") does not match original (", pth, ") when creating file URLs")
  + }
  > 
  > ## regression test to ensure that the roundtrip
  > ## between path and file url is working properly
  > checkUrlRoundtrip(getwd())
  > checkUrlRoundtrip(tempdir())
  > if(switchr:::isWindows())
  +     checkUrlRoundtrip("\\\\localhost\\c$")
  > 
  > ## regreossion test to ensure that package dependencies
  > ## are added to the dontunload list when a package
  > ## is specified
  > bef = switchrDontUnload()
  > af = switchrDontUnload("knitr")
  > stopifnot(all(tools::package_dependencies("knitr", recursive = TRUE)[[1]] %in% af))
  > 
  > 
  > ## regression test for unnecessary (and expensive)
  > ## lazy repo construction when install_packages
  > ## is passed urls for existing repos (the default
  > ## behavior).
  > tmplib = tempdir()
  > trace(lazyRepo, stop)
  Tracing function "lazyRepo" in environment <namespace:switchr>
  Warning: Tracing only in the namespace; to untrace you will need:
  untrace("lazyRepo", where = getNamespace("switchr"))
  [1] "lazyRepo"
  attr(,"package")
  [1] "switchr"
  > install_packages("switchr", repos = defaultRepos(), lib = tmplib)
  Error in rbind(avail1, avail2[new, ]) : 
    number of columns of matrices must match (see arg 2)
  Calls: install_packages ... install_packages -> install_packages -> .install_packages -> rbind
  Execution halted

r-release-macos-x86_64

Running ‘winpath.R’ [4s/9s]
Running the tests in ‘tests/winpath.R’ failed.
Complete output:
  > library(switchr)
  > ## if(getOption("repos")["CRAN"] == "@CRAN@")
  > ##     chooseCRANmirror(ind=1L)
  > graceful_inet(TRUE)
  $on
  [1] TRUE
  
  $silent
  [1] FALSE
  
  > checkUrlRoundtrip = function(pth) {
  +     pth = switchr:::normalizePath2(pth)
  +     furl = switchr:::makeFileURL(pth)
  +     pth2 = switchr:::fileFromFileURL(furl)
  +     if(pth != pth2)
  +         stop("Round trip result (", pth2, ") does not match original (", pth, ") when creating file URLs")
  + }
  > 
  > ## regression test to ensure that the roundtrip
  > ## between path and file url is working properly
  > checkUrlRoundtrip(getwd())
  > checkUrlRoundtrip(tempdir())
  > if(switchr:::isWindows())
  +     checkUrlRoundtrip("\\\\localhost\\c$")
  > 
  > ## regreossion test to ensure that package dependencies
  > ## are added to the dontunload list when a package
  > ## is specified
  > bef = switchrDontUnload()
  > af = switchrDontUnload("knitr")
  > stopifnot(all(tools::package_dependencies("knitr", recursive = TRUE)[[1]] %in% af))
  > 
  > 
  > ## regression test for unnecessary (and expensive)
  > ## lazy repo construction when install_packages
  > ## is passed urls for existing repos (the default
  > ## behavior).
  > tmplib = tempdir()
  > trace(lazyRepo, stop)
  Tracing function "lazyRepo" in environment <namespace:switchr>
  Warning: Tracing only in the namespace; to untrace you will need:
  untrace("lazyRepo", where = getNamespace("switchr"))
  [1] "lazyRepo"
  attr(,"package")
  [1] "switchr"
  > install_packages("switchr", repos = defaultRepos(), lib = tmplib)
  Error in rbind(avail1, avail2[new, ]) : 
    number of columns of matrices must match (see arg 2)
  Calls: install_packages ... install_packages -> install_packages -> .install_packages -> rbind
  Execution halted

NOTECRAN incoming feasibilityr-devel-linux-x86_64-debian-clang, r-devel-linux-x86_64-debian-gcc

Maintainer: ‘Gabriel Becker <gabembecker@gmail.com>’

No Authors@R field in DESCRIPTION.
Please add one, modifying
  Authors@R: person(given = "Gabriel",
                    family = "Becker",
                    role = c("aut", "cre"),
                    email = "gabembecker@gmail.com")
as necessary.

CRAN check page ↗

Slowest check: 5.6 min · r-oldrel-windows-x86_64

Status changes

ERROR7 OK, 2 NOTE, 4 ERRORNow
ERROR11 OK, 2 NOTE, 1 ERROR2026-03-10

Advisories

none known

How this is measured·How advisories are found

Documentation

In release 0.14.8

READMEYes · 47 wordsVignettesYes · 1 · dynamicNEWSYes · 100% structuredCitation fileYes · cites a publicationWebsitenot declared in DESCRIPTION

Cites a JSS article

Help pages: 80
Examples that run: 33%3 run in a plain check (1 of them under a condition) · 6 never run
Exported functions with examples: 12%
Documented parameters: 98%
Return-value docs: 96%
Help pages citing references: 8%

Vignettes (1)

switchr basics2 PDF

How these are measured

Downloads

3.8K

CRAN downloads in the past year

Rank #12,071 · ~10/day · ~317/mo

Releases R versions

Daily download trend is not available in this view yet.

39730 days

91290 days

3.8K1 year

Compare downloads with other packages →

Also on97 r2u8 autocran55 c2d4u

How downloads are counted

Repository

gmbecker/switchr ↗Account: gmbecker

60Stars

6Forks

9Open issues

1Open PRs

0Releases

190Commits

7Commit identities

190 commits · Last activity 2023-02-23 · The default branch showed an older version (0.14.5.1) than CRAN on 2026-10-18

Responsiveness

How these are sampled

PRs merged (all time): 50%
Median days to close, 50 most recently updated closed issues: 108
Median days to close, 50 most recently updated closed PRs: 2

Stars over time

2025-08-17 · 602026-07-07 · 60

How these are measured

PracticesBeta

1 development-tooling and community-health practice detected across 1 family in the upstream repository

Checks run against github.com/gmbecker/switchr on 2026-10-18.

Continuous integration (1)

Travis CI (config file)

How this is detected·Detection ruleset v3 (2026-09-26)

Dependencies

Declared dependencies

3 external dependencies (excludes base and recommended)

Installing switchr adds 3 packages (3 with compiled code, 1.4 MB of source tarballs). Heaviest: RJSONIO 722 KB, RCurl 702 KB, bitops 11 KB.

Depends (1)

methods

Imports (3)

toolsRJSONIO RCurl

LinkingTo (0)

none

Suggests (1)

BiocManager

Enhances (0)

none

Dependency license breakdown →

Reverse dependencies

0direct

0indirect

Nothing depends on this yet.

How these are counted

Code & Tests

People & History

People (from the free-text Author field) (1)

Gabriel Becker

Author, Maintainer since 0.9.3 (2015)

Releases (19)

Pick two releases to compare their code metrics.

R
R 4.6.0 released · 2026-04-24
R
R 4.5.0 released · 2025-04-11
R
R 4.4.0 released · 2024-04-24
R
R 4.3.0 released · 2023-04-21
unarchivedReturned to CRAN
2023-03-21
0.14.8Latest
record
2023-03-21 · current release · diff ↗
archivedRemoved from CRAN
2023-03-01
issues were not corrected despite reminders
R
R 4.2.0 released · 2022-04-22
0.14.5
record
2022-02-01 · diff ↗ ·
added 1 export
manifestFromCheckoutDir
R
R 4.1.0 released · 2021-05-18
R
R 4.0.0 released · 2020-04-24
0.14.3
record
2020-04-20 · diff ↗
unarchivedReturned to CRAN
2020-01-26
0.14.2
record
2020-01-26 · diff ↗ ·
added 2 exports
graceful_inet, warning2
archivedRemoved from CRAN
2020-01-22
check issues were not corrected in time Tries to access cran.usthb.dz which fails from time to time
R
R 3.6.0 released · 2019-04-26

Show 21 earlier eventsHide 21 earlier events

0.13.5
record
2018-11-15 · diff ↗ ·
added 3 exports
findNewestPkgInds, findNewestPkgRows, update_PACKAGES
0.13.0
record
2018-08-25 · diff ↗
R
R 3.5.0 released · 2018-04-23
unarchivedReturned to CRAN
2018-02-22
0.12.7
record
2018-02-22 · diff ↗
archivedRemoved from CRAN
2018-02-21
check problems were not corrected despite reminders Unconditional use of Suggests package(s) from BioC Attempt to use defunct BioC 'extra' repository
0.12.6
record
2017-11-07 · diff ↗
0.12.5
record
2017-11-06 · diff ↗
R
R 3.4.0 released · 2017-04-21
0.11.2
record
2017-01-12 · diff ↗ ·
removed 2 exports
BiocDevel, BiocRelease
0.11.0
record
2016-10-25 · diff ↗
0.10.14
record
2016-05-22 · diff ↗
0.10.13
record
2016-05-13 · diff ↗ ·
removed 1 export
Rcmd

added 2 exports
.libPaths2, nrow
R
R 3.3.0 released · 2016-05-03
0.9.19
record
2015-09-17 · diff ↗
0.9.18
record
2015-09-02 · diff ↗ ·
added 3 exports
shell_timing<-, makePkgCheckout, shell_timing
0.9.10
record
2015-07-02 · diff ↗ ·
added 4 exports
BiocSVNManifest, head, switchrNoUnload, tail
0.9.6
record
2015-06-17 · diff ↗ ·
added 2 exports
fileFromFileURL, makeFileURL
0.9.4
record
2015-06-06 · diff ↗
0.9.3
record
2015-06-03
R
R 3.2.0 released · 2015-04-16

Package metadata

First published: 2015-06-03
Total releases: 19 / 11 yrs
License: Artistic-2.0 OSI
Copyright: Genentech Inc
Download size: 618 KB

Appears in task views

Reproducible Research

Cite

Cite this package

Run in R for the authors' entry:

citation("switchr")

The package provides a citation file, so citation() returns the authors' own entry.

It points to 10.18637/jss.v082.i01.

Cite the R Observatory

For a number measured here: a download total, a coverage figure, an archival date.

Format

APA

Balamuta, J. J. (2026). R Observatory: Metrics for switchr version 0.14.8 [Data set]. HJJB, LLC. Data release v2026-10-22. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21843040

From data release v2026-10-22, which the citation names so these numbers can be found later. More on citing and the projects behind them.

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