Can't depend on `delphi.epidata` in other packages

[dajmcdon]

For another R package to depend on delphi.epidata, it needs two things:

1. delphi.epidata in the DESCRIPTION (Imports/Suggests/etc)
2. A Remotes: field in the DESCRIPTION pointing to cmu-delphi/delphi-epidata-r@dev (the repo name and the branch).

However, because the repo name differs from the package name, the installation routine will fail. This is an issue in the {remotes} package that performs the installation: r-lib/remotes#676.

Locally, one can first install delphi.epidata manually to avoid this, but any CI on Github will fail.

[brookslogan]

@dajmcdon @dshemetov When we discussed this issue at the meeting today, I suggested it might be related to this, which was fixed by #14 (it was the .Rbuildignore, not the DESCRIPTION). Reading these again, it doesn't seem like it's the case.

Could we rename this repo to "cmu-delphi/delphi.epidata.r", or somehow forward from "cmu-delphi/delphi.epidata.r" to "cmu-delphi/delphi-epidata-r"? (I don't think we can rename the R package inside the repository to delphi-epidata-r.)

[dshemetov]

@krivard Can I have admin privs on this repo, so I can look into redirection settings?

[brookslogan]

Sorry, the above wouldn't work. We'd need to be working off of "cmu-delphi/delphi.epidata", or alternatively, not just rename/forward the repo, but also rename the package inside to "delphi.epidata.r".

[dshemetov]

This feels like such a strange issue. Feels like there should be a way to install a package that has a different name from the repo.

[dajmcdon]

Locally, I don't get an error. So once I uninstall delphi.epidata, running:

remotes::install_github("epiprocess")

correctly finds and installs delphi.epidata.

[dajmcdon]

Here's the error from the Github action:

Error: Error: <callr_remote_error: Cannot install packages:
[49](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:49)
  * local::.: Can't install dependency cmu-delphi/epiprocess
[50](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:50)
  * cmu-delphi/epiprocess: Can't install dependency delphi.epidata
[51](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:51)
  * delphi.epidata: Can't find package called delphi.epidata.>
[52](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:52)
   in process 8[53](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:53)4 
53
  -->
[54](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:54)
  <simpleError: Cannot install packages:
[55](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:55)
  * local::.: Can't install dependency cmu-delphi/epiprocess
[56](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:56)
  * cmu-delphi/epiprocess: Can't install dependency delphi.epidata
[57](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:57)
  * delphi.epidata: Can't find package called delphi.epidata.>
[58](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:58)
  
[59](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:59)
   Stack trace:
[60](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:60)
  
[61](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:61)
   12. (function (...)  ...
[62](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:62)
   13. base:::withCallingHandlers(cli_message = function(msg) { ...
[63](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:63)
   14. get("pkg_deps_internal", asNamespace("pak"))(...)
[64](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:64)
   15. pak:::pkg_deps_internal2(pkg, upgrade, dependencies)
[65](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:65)
   16. deps$stop_for_solution_error()
[66](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:66)
   17. private$plan$stop_for_solve_error()
[67](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:67)
   18. pkgdepends:::pkgplan_stop_for_solve_error(self, private)
[68](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:68)
   19. base:::stop("Cannot install packages:\n", msg, call. = FALSE)
[69](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:69)
   20. base:::.handleSimpleError(function (e)  ...
[70](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:70)
   21. h(simpleError(msg, call))
[71](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:71)
   22. base:::stop(e)
[72](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:72)
   23. (function (e)  ...
[73](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:73)
  
[74](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:74)
   x Cannot install packages:
[75](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:75)
  * local::.: Can't install dependency cmu-delphi/epiprocess
[76](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:76)
  * cmu-delphi/epiprocess: Can't install dependency delphi.epidata
[77](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:77)
  * delphi.epidata: Can't find package called delphi.epidata. 
[78](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:78)
  
[79](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:79)
  Execution halted
[80](https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/runs/6018603382?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:80)
  Error: Process completed with exit code 1.

[dshemetov]

Hm, these aren't very descriptive error messages. Can't be a permissions thing, since the repo is public. 🤷

[brookslogan]

A few ideas:

• Could this be an issue with the CI's version of devtools, remotes, pkgload, etc.? That could be resolved by installing the GitHub versions of these instead of CRAN versions (if the GitHub versions aren't already being used)?
• We use dev as the main branch name instead of main or master; could modifying Remotes: to specify the branch help?
• Does our modeltools install properly? If so, it'd be pretty surprising as it depends on evalcast, and both modeltools and evalcast are within cmu-delphi/covidcast. If they do work, maybe it suggests to specify the subdir in the Remotes: (if it's possible to specify the subdir to be the root of the repo)?

[krivard]

@nmdefries may have some insight on R behaving differently in a GitHub action vs a local environment

[dajmcdon]

• Not sure about the CI package versions, though the fact that Support syntax for remotes where repo name is different from package name r-lib/remotes#676 remains open suggests no.
• I tried tagging @dev but that didn't help. (also tried delphi.epidata=cmu-delphi/delphi-epidata-r, the "full" pak specification, but the Remotes: field doesn't seem to obey that.
• modeltools isn't under CI, so maybe never came up. evalcast is under Github CI (failing), but downloads the CRAN version of covidcast, so it's ok with that.

[dshemetov]

Where do the CI package versions get set? If we can reproduce locally, could be easier to diagnose.

[dajmcdon]

I haven't been able to reproduce it locally. It seems that pak is the R package that does the install in the ghaction (rather than remotes).

[krivard]

@dajmcdon can you paste an example failing workflow & associated YML file?

[dajmcdon]

It's the R-CMD-Check here: https://github.com/cmu-delphi/epipredict/blob/main/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml

The current version of that package passes. However, in the DESCRIPTION, changing

Remotes:
  cmu-delphi/epiprocess#58

to

Remotes:
  cmu-delphi/epiprocess

fails because the current epiprocess depends on delphi.epidata.