Hosting data packages via drat: A case study with hurricane exposure data

Abstract

Data-only packages offer a way to provide extended functionality for other R users. However, such packages can be large enough to exceed the package size limit (5 megabytes) for the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN). As an alternative, large data packages can be posted to additional repostiories beyond CRAN itself in a way that allows smaller code packages on CRAN to access and use the data. The drat package facilitates creation and use of such alternative repositories and makes it particularly simple to host them via GitHub. CRAN packages can draw on packages posted to drat repositories through the use of the 'Additonal_repositories' field in the DESCRIPTION file. This paper describes how R users can create a suite of coordinated packages, in which larger data packages are hosted in an alternative repository created with drat, while a smaller code package that interacts with this data is created that can be submitted to CRAN.