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Using RcppEnsmallen in Your Own R Package

James Joseph Balamuta

Source: vignettes/package-usage.Rmd
package-usage.Rmd

Abstract

This vignette describes the best practices for using RcppEnsmallen in your own R package.

Overview

RcppEnsmallen is best used within an R package. The setup for RcppEnsmallen’s use mirrors that of other Rcpp-based projects. In particular, the DESCRIPTION file requires the LinkingTo field and two files inside the src/ to establish the necessary compilation options. In the next two sections, we show the modifications.

DESCRIPTION file

Open your R package’s DESCRIPTION file. Ensure that the LinkingTo directive is present and contains:

LinkingTo: Rcpp, RcppArmadillo (>= 0.9.800.0.0), RcppEnsmallen (>= 0.2.20.0.1)

Makevars inside the src/ Directory

Next, the src/ directory must contain both a Makevars and Makevars.win file. Each file must have the same contents of:

PKG_CXXFLAGS = $(SHLIB_OPENMP_CXXFLAGS)
PKG_LIBS = $(SHLIB_OPENMP_CXXFLAGS) $(LAPACK_LIBS) $(BLAS_LIBS) $(FLIBS)

The Makevars.win file provides the appropriate configuration for Windows while Makevars acts on Unix-alike systems like macOS, Linux, and Solaris.