Suggestion of new function: get_dep_version()

[rempsyc]

Context

insight::check_if_installed() is a great alternative to rlang::is_installed().

During the review of my rempsyc paper at JOSS, it was pointed out that for suggested packages, the wrong package versions were checked. I assumed these functions were smart enough to check the DESCRIPTION document for the correct version, but this is not the case. So we need to specify the minimal version manually using the minimum_version or version arguments.

Problem and Solution

This is suboptimal because it creates additional maintenance: we have to update the version numbers not only in the DESCRIPTION file but also in every function that depends on those suggested packages (crazy I know!).

For this purpose, I created a function, get_dep_version(), that automatically detects the minimal version of a given package from the DESCRIPTION file.

Reprex:

rempsyc::get_dep_version(dep = "rstanarm", pkg = "insight")
#> [1] "2.21.1"

rempsyc::get_dep_version(dep = "see", pkg = "modelbased")
#> [1] "0.7.4"

^{Created on 2023-08-05 with reprex v2.0.2}

This is useful because it can be directly integrated with insight::check_if_installed():

insight::check_if_installed("see", minimum_version = rempsyc::get_dep_version(
  dep = "see", pkg = "modelbased"))
#> Error: Package `see` is installed, but package version `0.7.4` is required.
#>   Please update it by running `install.packages(`see`)`.

^{Created on 2023-08-05 with reprex v2.0.2}

In fact, this could be the default, should we want it. This would allow us to reduce maintenance in all easystats packages by changing the required version number only once: where it belongs in the DESCRIPTION file. Furthermore, making this the default in insight::check_if_installed() would show a CLEAR benefit of insight::check_if_installed() over rlang::is_installed().

---

Would you like this function to migrate from rempsyc to insight?

[bwiernik]

This would be great, but maybe we don't need a separate exported function? Do folks need to check dep version outside of this case? Maybe just add the min version check internally to check_if_installed()?

[vincentarelbundock]

Yes, this sounds like a cool feature. I agree with Brenton that this should be added as a feature to check_if_installed() (a new argument?) rather than a new function.

[rempsyc]

Great, thanks! I'll submit a PR with the modified check_if_installed()!

[strengejacke]

Is it possible to avoid naming the package from where the function is called? Cf rempsyc::get_dep_version(dep = "rstanarm", pkg = "insight"), where we need to specify "insight".

[rempsyc]

Yes @strengejacke, in #795 this is now automatic :)