如何正确从CRAN归档安装已移除的R包frailtySurv

Hi David, let's work through this together—your attempts were close, but there were small missteps causing the issues. Here's how to get frailtySurv installed properly:

Why your previous methods didn't work #

• The zip file approach: R expects source packages in .tar.gz format, not manually zipped folders. When you extracted the original .tar.gz and re-zipped it, you likely messed up the package directory structure that R uses to recognize and load the package. That's why it said "installed successfully" but library(frailtySurv) failed.
• The direct repos URL approach: The repos parameter needs to point to a valid CRAN repository root (which has a package index file), not the specific subfolder for an archived package. That's why you got the "unable to access index for repository" error.

Method 1: Install directly from the archived URL (recommended) #

First, make sure you have the devtools package installed (it simplifies installing packages from URLs):

install.packages("devtools")

Then use devtools::install_url() to install the specific archived version. Replace the path in the quotes with the exact link to the .tar.gz file you want (e.g., version 1.3.7):

devtools::install_url("https://cran.r-project.org/src/contrib/Archive/frailtySurv/frailtySurv_1.3.7.tar.gz")

Method 2: Manual download + local installation #

If you prefer not to use devtools, you can do this manually:

1. Go to the CRAN archive page for frailtySurv and download the .tar.gz file you want (e.g., frailtySurv_1.3.7.tar.gz) to your computer.
2. Use install.packages() with the local file path, making sure to specify type="source" (since this is a source package):

# Replace the path with where you saved the file on your computer
install.packages("~/Downloads/frailtySurv_1.3.7.tar.gz", repos = NULL, type = "source")

Important note for compilation dependencies #

Since this is a source package, you'll need compilation tools installed on your system:

• Windows: Install Rtools (make sure it's added to your system PATH during installation).
• Mac: Install Xcode Command Line Tools (run xcode-select --install in Terminal).
• Linux: Install the necessary build-essential packages (e.g., sudo apt-get install r-base-dev on Debian/Ubuntu).

Once the installation finishes successfully, you should be able to load the package with library(frailtySurv) without issues.

备注：内容来源于stack exchange，提问作者David Zucker