Difference between <pkg>?source and <pkg>=?source ?

[MichaelChirico]

pak/man/chunks/FAQ.Rmd

Lines 37 to 56 in b940875

	## How do I install a package from source?
	To force the installation of a source package (instead of a binary
	package), use the `?source` parameter:
	```{asciicast faq-source}
	pak::pkg_install("tibble?source")
	```
	## How do I install the latest version of a dependency?
	If you want to always install a dependency from source, because you want
	the latest version or some other reason, you can use the `source`
	parameter with the `<package>=` form: `<package>=?source`.
	For example to install tibble, with its cli dependency installed from
	source you could write:
	```{asciicast faq-source-dep}
	pak::pkg_install(c("tibble", "cli=?source"))
	```

These paragraphs are next to each other but I can't tell if there's any difference between <pkg>?source and <pkg>?=source

[gaborcsardi]

https://pak.r-lib.org/reference/pak_package_sources.html#parameters

[MichaelChirico]

Thanks for the reference, but sorry, the exposition is still not clear.

For example, there's a transition to discussing "downstream" packages that doesn't make much sense to me. The FAQ by contrast uses the term "dependency" -- in my mind those terms are not the same.

[gaborcsardi]

• pkg?source = install pkg from source, plus its dependencies according to the dependencies argument.
• pkg=?source = if pkg will be installed, install it from source.

[MichaelChirico]

OK so in my case for {bit64}, suppose {bit} (in Depends: of {bit64}) also has Imports: pkgA

bit64?source  : installs bit64, bit, and pkgA from source
bit64=?source : install bit64 from source, bit and pkgA can be installed from binary
bit?source    : bit64 might be installed from binary, bit and pkgA are installed from source
bit?=source   : bit64 and pkgA might be installed from binary, bit will be installed from source

Does that look right to you?

[gaborcsardi]

It does not look right. But I don't really understand what you are installing? What is the command line? Or the code that calls the action?

[MichaelChirico]

I am "just" trying to run r-lib/actions/check-r-package.

Plain bit?source did work for my purposes. I am trying to understand better in the hopes of improving the documentation with that clarity.

[gaborcsardi]

Oh, for check-r-package this does not matter at all, it doesn't have anything to do with package installation, just runs R CMD check.

Anyway, improvements are welcome, sure.

[MichaelChirico]

Oh, for check-r-package this does not matter at all

Maybe I need more context. This is about the setup-r-dependencies step that feeds check-r-package.

Here I followed your advice to use bit?source: r-lib/bit64@fae213b

The result is R CMD check begins to pass because the WARNING about mismatched "built" version for {bit} and {bit64} went away (e.g. https://github.com/r-lib/bit64/actions/runs/11464927713/job/31902265368).

I still don't really understand the impact of = so I can't offer any improvements as of now.