Build a self-contained distributable from an RDesk application

Build a self-contained distributable from an RDesk application

Usage

build_app(
  app_dir = ".",
  out_dir = file.path(tempdir(), "dist"),
  app_name = NULL,
  version = NULL,
  r_version = NULL,
  include_packages = character(0),
  portable_r_method = c("extract_only", "installer"),
  runtime_dir = NULL,
  overwrite = FALSE,
  build_installer = FALSE,
  publisher = "RDesk User",
  website = "https://github.com/Janakiraman-311/RDesk",
  license_file = NULL,
  icon_file = NULL,
  prune_runtime = TRUE,
  dry_run = FALSE
)

Arguments

app_dir

Path to the app directory (must contain app.R and www/)

out_dir

Output directory for the zip file (created if not exists)

app_name

Name of the application. Defaults to name in DESCRIPTION or "MyRDeskApp".

version

Version string. Defaults to version in DESCRIPTION or "1.0.0".

r_version

R version to bundle e.g. "4.4.2". Defaults to current R version.

include_packages

Character vector of extra CRAN packages to bundle. RDesk's own dependencies are always included automatically.

portable_r_method

How to provision the bundled R runtime when runtime_dir is not supplied. "extract_only" requires standalone 7-Zip and never launches the R installer. "installer" allows the legacy silent installer path explicitly.

runtime_dir

Optional path to an existing portable R runtime root containing bin/. When supplied, RDesk copies this runtime directly and skips the download/extract step.

overwrite

If TRUE, overwrite existing output. Default FALSE.

build_installer

If TRUE, also build a Windows installer (.exe) using InnoSetup.

publisher

Documentation for the application publisher (used in installer).

website

URL for the application website (used in installer).

license_file

Path to a license file (.txt or .rtf) to include in the installer.

icon_file

Path to an .ico file for the installer and application shortcut.

prune_runtime

If TRUE, remove unnecessary files (Tcl/Tk, docs, tests) from the bundled R runtime to reduce size (~15-20MB saving). Default TRUE.

dry_run

If TRUE, performs a quick validation of the app structure and environment without performing the full build. Default FALSE.

Value

Path to the created zip file, invisibly.

Examples

# Prepare an app directory (following scaffold example)
app_path <- file.path(tempdir(), "MyApp")
rdesk_create_app("MyApp", path = tempdir())
#> 
#> [RDesk] Generating MyApp...
#> [RDesk]   Created 6 directories and 8 files
#> 
#> [RDesk] Successfully created: C:\Users\RUNNER~1\AppData\Local\Temp\RtmpUnpue2\MyApp
#> [RDesk] Your Professional Dashboard includes:
#>   - Mixed visualization (Charts + Tables)
#>   - Built-in KPI cards system
#>   - Sidebar filtering engine
#>   - Background processing (Async Workers)
#> 
#> [RDesk] Run it now:
#>   setwd("C:\Users\runneradmin\AppData\Local\Temp\RtmpUnpue2\MyApp")
#>   source("app.R")
#> 
#> [RDesk] Build your executable when ready:
#>   RDesk::build_app(app_dir = "C:\Users\runneradmin\AppData\Local\Temp\RtmpUnpue2\MyApp", app_name = "MyApp")
#> 

# Perform a dry-run build (fast, no external binaries downloaded)
build_app(app_path, out_dir = tempdir(), dry_run = TRUE)
#> 
#> [RDesk] DRY RUN: Validating app structure...
#> [RDesk]   V Structure OK
#> [RDesk]   V RTools found: C:\rtools45
#> [RDesk] DRY RUN: All checks passed.