I would like to include static vignettes in my R package that will show up for users using the R function browseVignettes().
I need the vignettes to be static because the vignettes take too long to build, causing me to fail CRAN checks on win-builder if they are included dynamically.
The package R.rsp seems to provide exactly what I want; described here: https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/R.rsp/vignettes/R_packages-Static_PDF_and_HTML_vignettes.pdf .
I followed the instructions from R.rsp. I have a vignettes folder that contains a .html file with a corresponding .Rmd file and a .html.asis file, as directed. I also have the appropriate code in the DESCRIPTION file. With these settings, I pass CRAN tests on win-builder, travis, etc. However, when I download the package from github, it says that there are no vignettes associated with the package. Am I missing something about the R.rsp package? Is this capability outdated? Do I need to copy the built vignettes from the Vignettes folder into an inst/doc folder? (I have seen conflicting information about vignettes folder vs inst/doc folder).
Is using something like R.rsp::asis the best way to include vignettes that take too long to build to include dynamically? Another method that I have seen is to include the vignettes folder in .Rbuildignore, and then include a note in the README file telling users that they can build the vignettes separately from github in order to view them. I am also considering including links in the README to external vignettes. Is this a better approach? Which might CRAN prefer?
Add build_vignettes=TRUE to your install_github call.