build_github_devtools: Build the development version of devtools from GitHub.
Description
This function is especially useful for Windows users who
want to upgrade their version of devtools to the
development version hosted on on GitHub. In Windows, it's
not possible to upgrade devtools while the package is
loaded because there is an open DLL, which in Windows can't
be overwritten. This function allows you to build a binary
package of the development version of devtools; then you
can restart R (so that devtools isn't loaded) and install
the package.
Usage
build_github_devtools(outfile = NULL)
Arguments
outfile
The name of the output file. If NULL (the
default), it uses ./devtools.tgz (Mac and Linux), or
./devtools.zip (Windows).
Value
a string giving the location (including file name) of the
built package
Details
Mac and Linux users don't need this function; they can use
install_github to install devtools directly,
without going through the separate build-restart-install
steps.
library(devtools)
build_github_devtools()
#### Restart R before continuing ####install.packages("./devtools.zip", repos = NULL)
# Remove the package after installationunlink("./devtools.zip")