installing the “bivpois” package in R using Windows

Question

I have to install the "bivpois" package in the software R using Windows. Browsing on the Internet on StackOverflow site, I found different solution to my problem, but I cannot to solve that.

The R version is the 3.1.2

I tried to install this package, as suggested by some on SO and on the Internet, running the following lines:

1. Using a zip file;

   install.packages('FILE_LOCATION',repos=NULL,type="source")

2. Using the code file

   install.packages('FILE_LOCATION',repos=NULL,type="source")

3. Using the link of the website where one can download the package:

   install.packages("bivpois", repos = " http://stat-athens.aueb.gr/~jbn/papers/paper14.htm ",type = "source")

The last 3 way give an error as output, while running "Install package from local zip file" allows to install properly (apparently) the package. When I want to call the package after installed, using library() R gives the following error:

Error: package ‘bivpois’ was built before R 3.0.0: please re-install it

and updating by running update.packages(checkBuilt = TRUE, ask = FALSE) does not help to call the package.

How can I install this package and call it? Can it be not supported anymore?

Answer 1

I'm running on a Mac but I cannot see that my method would not succeed as well on a PC as long as you understand how to view and rename hidden files. I didn't figure that I'd be able to fix the package problem, so I took the authors up on their offer to download the zipped .Rdata file that had the functions in it. I unzipped it (erroneously thinking it would be named '14_bivpois_RDATA' but discovered that it was named '.Rdata' when expanded in my /Downloads/ folder. Dot-files are hidden in the file-browsers by default on Macs and Windows machines but I run my Mac with these files visible. So I renamed it bivpois.RData making it visible and preventing it from over-writing my .Rdata file in my working directory. I then closed out my session and double-clicked on bivpois.RData and the functions, pbivpois , bivpois.table , lm.bp , lm.dibp simple.bp and splitbeta seem to be loaded.

The other way to do this would be to expand the source and separately source the .R files in it: