[R] CRAN packaging checklist for version 19.0.0

[amoeba]

Packaging checklist for CRAN release

For a high-level overview of the release process see the
Apache Arrow Release Management Guide.

Before the release candidate is cut

• Create a GitHub issue entitled [R] CRAN packaging checklist for version X.X.X and copy this checklist to the issue.
• Review deprecated functions to advance their deprecation status, including removing preprocessor directives that no longer apply (search for ARROW_VERSION_MAJOR in r/src).
• Evaluate the status of any failing nightly tests and nightly packaging builds. These checks replicate most of the checks that CRAN runs, so we need them all to be passing or to understand that the failures may (though won't necessarily) result in a rejection from CRAN.
• Check current CRAN check results
• Ensure the contents of the README are accurate and up to date.
• Run urlchecker::url_check() on the R directory at the release candidate.
  commit. Ignore any errors with badges as they will be removed in the CRAN release branch.
• Polish NEWS but do not update version numbers (this is done automatically later). You can find commits by, for example, git log --oneline <sha of last release>..HEAD | grep "\[R\]"
• Run preliminary reverse dependency checks using archery docker run r-revdepcheck.
• For major releases, prepare tweet thread highlighting new features.

Wait for the release candidate to be cut:

After release candidate has been cut

• Create a CRAN-release branch from the release candidate commit, name the new branch e.g. maint-X.X.X-r and push to upstream

Prepare and check the .tar.gz that will be released to CRAN.

• git fetch upstream && git checkout release-X.X.X-rcXX && git clean -f -d
• Run make build. This copies Arrow C++ into tools/cpp, prunes some
  unnecessary components, and runs R CMD build to generate the source tarball.
  Because this will install the package, you will need to ensure that the version
  of Arrow C++ available to the configure script is the same as the version
  that is vendored into the R package (e.g., you may need to unset ARROW_HOME).
• devtools::check_built("arrow_X.X.X.tar.gz") locally
• Run reverse dependency checks using archery docker run r-revdepcheck.

Release vote

• Release vote passed!

Generate R package to submit to CRAN

• If the release candidate commit updated, rebase the CRAN release branch
  on that commit.
• Pick any commits that were made to main since the release commit that
  were needed to fix CRAN-related submission issues identified in the above
  steps.
• Remove badges from README.md
• Run urlchecker::url_check() on the R directory
• Create a PR entitled WIP: [R] Verify CRAN release-10.0.1-rc0. Add
  a comment @github-actions crossbow submit --group r to run all R crossbow
  jobs against the CRAN-specific release branch.
• Run Rscript tools/update-checksums.R <libarrow version> to download the checksums for the pre-compiled binaries from the ASF artifactory into the tools directory.
• Regenerate arrow_X.X.X.tar.gz (i.e., make build)

Check binary Arrow C++ distributions specific to the R package

• Upload the .tar.gz to win-builder (r-devel only)
  and confirm (with Jon, who will automatically receive an email about the results) that the check is clean.
• Upload the .tar.gz to MacBuilder
  and confirm that the check is clean
• Check install.packages("arrow_X.X.X.tar.gz") on Ubuntu and ensure that the
  hosted binaries are used
• devtools::check_built("arrow_X.X.X.tar.gz") locally one more time (for luck)

CRAN submission

• Upload arrow_X.X.X.tar.gz to the
  CRAN submit page
• Confirm the submission email

Wait for CRAN...

• Accepted!
• Tag the tip of the CRAN-specific release branch with r-universe-release
• Add a new line to the matrix in the backwards compatability job
• (patch releases only) Update the package version in ci/scripts/PKGBUILD, dev/tasks/homebrew-formulae/autobrew/apache-arrow.rb, r/DESCRIPTION, and r/NEWS.md
• (CRAN-only releases) Rebuild news page with pkgdown::build_news() and submit a PR to the asf-site branch of the docs site with the contents of arrow/r/docs/news/index.html replacing the current contents of arrow-site/docs/r/news/index.html
• (CRAN-only releases) Bump the version number in r/pkgdown/assets/versions.json, and update this on the the asf-site branch of the docs site too.
• Update the packaging checklist template to reflect any new realities of the
  packaging process.
• Wait for CRAN-hosted binaries on the
  CRAN package page to reflect the
  new version
• Tweet!
  • Use Bryce's script for contributor calculation.

Component(s)

R, Release

[amoeba]

I put up a verification PR at #45329 to start the release process. The locally built package is actually failing to check for me locally due to a re2 symbol visibility issue so we'll see if it's just my environment or not.

[amoeba]

Working on the release today. win-builder and mac-builder submitted.

I've identified some good post-release tasks (to commit on main),

• Normalize formatting in NEWS.md
• Redocument package (acero.Rd and dplyr-func-docs.R are out of date). This was included in the CRAN tarball.
  • Cherry-pick arrow::one docs commit from maint-19.0.0-r

[jonkeane]

I received the win builder results a little bit ago. It looks like there's one warning (a cross-link in the docs)

...
* checking Rd line widths ... OK
* checking Rd cross-references ... WARNING
Missing link(s) in Rd file 'acero.Rd':
  'one'

See section 'Cross-references' in the 'Writing R Extensions' manual.

Found the following Rd file(s) with Rd \link{} targets missing package
anchors:
  acero.Rd: one
Please provide package anchors for all Rd \link{} targets not in the
package itself and the base packages.
* checking for missing documentation entries ... OK
...
* DONE
Status: 1 WARNING

https://win-builder.r-project.org/pq09pouoM1gf/

[amoeba]

Thanks, added in 58a40a6. I'll resubmit to win/mac-builder in a sec.

[jonkeane]

That looked like it worked:

...
* checking examples ... OK
* checking for unstated dependencies in 'tests' ... OK
* checking tests ... [80s] OK
  Running 'testthat.R' [79s]
* checking PDF version of manual ... [18s] OK
* checking HTML version of manual ... [21s] OK
* DONE
Status: OK

https://win-builder.r-project.org/7qnda6aZ2811/00check.log

[amoeba]

Thanks @jonkeane. I pushed up the final CRAN tarball to https://files.brycemecum.com/arrow_19.0.0.tar.gz and it's ready to go off to CRAN whenever you have a chance.

[jonkeane]

🎉 Thanks for pushing on this. Given that 19.0.1 will be out soon, I think we should wait and just submit that when we're ready so that we don't get dinged for a too-soon release to CRAN. What do you think @amoeba ?