# Using Rix to Build Project Specific Environments

## Project-specific Nix environments

Now that you have the required software installed, it’s to time learn more about declaring and using reproducible environments.

The ideal workflow when using `{rix}` is to create a new, separate environment at the start of a project. Let’s say that you wish to analyse some data set, and need `{dplyr}` and `{ggplot2}`. Let’s also suppose that you use VS Code as your IDE (there will be more discussion on editors in the vignette `vignette("configuring-ide")` but for now, let’s assume that you use VS Code). With the `rix::rix()` function, you can easily generate the right `default.nix` file. You need to provide the following inputs to `rix()`:

- `r_ver`: the version of R required. Use `"latest-upstream"` for the latest version, and use `available_r()` to check which versions are available;
- `date`: instead of `r_ver`, use `date` to specify a date. This date corresponds to a CRAN snapshot of that day. Current R versions and latest release of Bioconductor at that date are also provided. Check available dates using `available_dates()`;
- `r_pkgs`: the required R packages. For example “dplyr” (more on this in the vignette `vignette("installing-r-packages")`);
- `system_pkgs`: the required system packages, if needed. For example “quarto”, or a Python interpreter (more on this in the vignette `vignette("installing-system-tools")`);
- `git_pkgs`: list of git packages to add (more on this in the vignette `vignette("installing-r-packages")`);
- `ide`: the integrated development editor to use (more on this in the vignette `vignette("configuring-ide")`)
- `path`: the path where to save the `default.nix` file.
- `overwrite`: whether to overwrite the `default.nix` file or not.
- `print`: whether to print the `default.nix` file to the console or not.

Run the following command to generate a `default.nix` file:

    path_default_nix <- tempdir()

    rix(
      r_ver = "latest-upstream",
      r_pkgs = c("dplyr", "ggplot2"),
      system_pkgs = NULL,
      git_pkgs = NULL,
      ide = "code",
      project_path = path_default_nix,
      overwrite = TRUE,
      print = TRUE
    )
    #> let
    #>  pkgs = import (fetchTarball "https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/12a9c0004bc987afb1ff511ebb97b67497a68e22.tar.gz") {};
    #>
    #>   rpkgs = builtins.attrValues {
    #>     inherit (pkgs.rPackages)
    #>       dplyr
    #>       ggplot2
    #>       languageserver;
    #>   };
    #>
    #>   system_packages = builtins.attrValues {
    #>     inherit (pkgs)
    #>       R
    #>       glibcLocales
    #>       nix;
    #>   };
    #>
    #> in
    #>
    #> pkgs.mkShell {
    #>   LOCALE_ARCHIVE = if pkgs.system == "x86_64-linux" then  "${pkgs.glibcLocales}/lib/locale/locale-archive" else "";
    #>   LANG = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_ALL = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_TIME = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_MONETARY = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_PAPER = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_MEASUREMENT = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>
    #>   buildInputs = [  rpkgs  system_packages   ];
    #>
    #> }

To start using this environment, open a terminal in the folder containing `default.nix` and use the following Nix command:

    nix-build

`nix-build` is a Nix command that builds an environment according to the specifications found in a `default.nix` file. Once the environment is done building, you should find a new file called `result` next to the `default.nix` file. This file is a symlink to the software installed by Nix. `{rix}` also provides a `nix_build()` function to build Nix environments from within an interactive R session, but it is not always guaranteed to succeed, due to differences in platforms. This is explained in more detail in the following vignette `vignette("running-code-in-nix")`. In case of doubt, run `nix-build` from your usual terminal application.

To now use the environment, type in the same terminal as before:

    nix-shell

This will activate the environment. If you have VS Code installed you can start it from this environment and VS Code will use this specific R version library of packages. We will explore this in greater detail in the vignette `vignette("configuring-ide")`.

## Which `r_ver` should you choose?

There are several options for `r_ver` and each have a specific purpose. The table below explains this:

r_ver or date | Intended use | State of R version | State of CRAN packages | State of Bioconductor packages | State of other packages in Nixpkgs
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
r_ver = "latest-upstream" | Start of new project where versions don’t matter | Current or previous | Outdated (up to 6 months) | Outdated (up to 6 months) | Current at time of generation
r_ver = "4.4.2" | Reproducing old project or starting a new project where versions don’t matter | Same as in `r_ver`, check `available_r()` | Outdated (up to 2 months if using latest release) | Outdated (up to 2 months if using latest release) | Potentially outdated (up to 12 months)
r_ver = "2024-12-14" | Reproducing old project or starting a new project using the most recent date | Current at that date, check `available_dates()` | Current at that date, check `available_dates()` | Current at that date, check `available_dates()` | Potentially outdated (up to 12 months)
r_ver = "bleeding-edge" | To develop against the latest release of CRAN | Always current | Always current | Always current | Always current
r_ver = "frozen-edge" | To develop against the latest release of CRAN, but manually manage updates | Current at time of generation | Current at time of generation | Current at time of generation | Current at time of generation
r_ver = "r-devel" | To develop/test against the development version of R | Development version | Always current | Always current | Always current
r_ver = "r-devel-bioc-devel" | To develop/test against the development version of R and Bioconductor | Development version | Always current | Development version | Always current
r_ver = "bioc-devel" | To develop/test against the development version of Bioconductor | Always current | Always current | Development version | Always current

If you want to benefit from relatively fresh packages and have a stable environment for production purposes, using `"latest-upstream"` or the most recent available date for `r_ver` is probably your best option.

## Running old projects with {rix}

The example below shows how to create a `default.nix` with instructions to build an environment with R version 4.2.1, the `{dplyr}` and `{janitor}` packages and no specific IDE:

    path_default_nix <- tempdir()

    rix(
      r_ver = "4.2.1",
      r_pkgs = c("dplyr", "janitor"),
      system_pkgs = c("quarto"),
      git_pkgs = NULL,
      ide = "none",
      project_path = path_default_nix,
      overwrite = TRUE
    )

The file looks like this:

    #> let
    #>  pkgs = import (fetchTarball "https://github.com/rstats-on-nix/nixpkgs/archive/2022-10-20.tar.gz") {};
    #>
    #>   rpkgs = builtins.attrValues {
    #>     inherit (pkgs.rPackages)
    #>       dplyr
    #>       janitor;
    #>   };
    #>
    #>   system_packages = builtins.attrValues {
    #>     inherit (pkgs)
    #>       glibcLocales
    #>       nix
    #>       quarto
    #>       R;
    #>   };
    #>
    #> in
    #>
    #> pkgs.mkShell {
    #>   LOCALE_ARCHIVE = if pkgs.system == "x86_64-linux" then "${pkgs.glibcLocales}/lib/locale/locale-archive" else "";
    #>   LANG = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_ALL = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_TIME = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_MONETARY = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_PAPER = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_MEASUREMENT = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>
    #>   buildInputs = [  rpkgs  system_packages   ];
    #>
    #> }

Or use a date for a dated environment (if you use `r_ver = 4.4.2` instead of the date in the call below, this will generate the same expression, as this is the version of R that is included at that date):

    rix(
      date = "2024-12-14",
      r_pkgs = c("dplyr", "ggplot2"),
      system_pkgs = NULL,
      git_pkgs = NULL,
      ide = "code",
      project_path = path_default_nix,
      overwrite = TRUE,
      print = TRUE
    )

    #> let
    #>  pkgs = import (fetchTarball "https://github.com/rstats-on-nix/nixpkgs/archive/2024-12-14.tar.gz") {};
    #>
    #>   rpkgs = builtins.attrValues {
    #>     inherit (pkgs.rPackages)
    #>       dplyr
    #>       ggplot2
    #>       languageserver;
    #>   };
    #>
    #>   system_packages = builtins.attrValues {
    #>     inherit (pkgs)
    #>       glibcLocales
    #>       nix
    #>       R;
    #>   };
    #>
    #> in
    #>
    #> pkgs.mkShell {
    #>   LOCALE_ARCHIVE = if pkgs.system == "x86_64-linux" then "${pkgs.glibcLocales}/lib/locale/locale-archive" else "";
    #>   LANG = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_ALL = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_TIME = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_MONETARY = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_PAPER = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>    LC_MEASUREMENT = "en_US.UTF-8";
    #>
    #>   buildInputs = [  rpkgs  system_packages   ];
    #>
    #> }

The first line is quite important, as it shows which revision of `nixpkgs` is being used for this environment, as well as the fork. In the two last examples, the expression will use our `rstats-on-nix` fork which includes many fixes for older packages, especially for Apple Silicon devices. The first expression in this vignette, the one generated with `r_ver = "latest-upstream"` uses the upstream `nixpkgs` from the NixOS project.

The revision is the commit hash of that particular release of `nixpkgs`, here it’s a date, because our fork of `nixpkgs` uses dates as branches names, and we are actually pointing to the head of those branches. When generating a `default.nix` using `r_ver = "latest-upstream"`, a commit is shown instead. This dated branch of our `rstats-on-nix` `nixpkgs` fork is the one that shipped version 4.2.1 of R, so the `{dplyr}` and `{janitor}` packages that will get installed will be the versions available in that date as well. This means that R versions and package versions are always coupled when using Nix. However, if you need a specific version of R, but also a specific version of a package that is not available in that particular Nix revision, one solution is to install that package from GitHub or from the CRAN archives. Read the vignette `vignette("installing-r-packages")` to know more about this.

`available_df()` provides an overview of available R and Bioconductor releases, and their compatibility with different operating systems; in short, on Linux (including WSL on Windows), every available R version or date should work, while for macOS, every available date will likely work on Intel Macs, while only R version 4.0.5 and up will work on Apple Silicon.

## Running programs from an environment

You could create a bash script that you put in the path to make the process of launching your editor from that environment more streamlined. For example, if your project is called `housing`, you could create this script and execute it to start your project:

    #!/bin/bash
    nix-shell /absolute/path/to/housing/default.nix --run code

This will execute VS Code in the environment for the `housing` project. If you use `{targets}` you could execute the pipeline in the environment by running:

    cd /absolute/path/to/housing/ && nix-shell default.nix --run "Rscript -e 'targets::tar_make()'"

## Running single functions in a subshell

It is also possible to run single functions in an isolated environment from an active R session using `with_nix()` and get the output of that function loaded into the current session. Refer to this vignette `vignette("running-code-in-nix")` for more details on how to achieve this. Concretely this means that you could be running R version 4.3.2 (installed via Nix, or not), and execute a function on R version 4.0.0 for example in a subshell (or execute a function that requires an old version of a package in that subshell), and get the result of the computation back into the main R session.

## Nix environments are not completely isolated from your system

It is important to know that an environment built by Nix is not totally isolated from the rest of the system. Suppose that you have the program `sl` installed on your system, and suppose you build a Nix environment that also comes with `sl`. If you activate that environment, the version of `sl` that will run when called is the one included in the Nix environment. If, however, you start `sl` in a Nix environment that does not come with it, then your system’s `sl` will get used instead.

In the context of the R programming language, this means that if you have a user or system library of packages (meaning, a library of packages generated by a regular installation of R), these packages may be loaded by an R version running from a Nix shell. To avoid issues with this, calling `rix()` automatically runs `rix_init()` as well, which generates a custom `.Rprofile` file in the project’s directory. This way, your regular user library of packages will not interfere with R environments managed by Nix. Moreover, this custom `.Rprofile` also redefines `install.packages()` and makes it throw an error: indeed, if you wish to add packages to your an R environment managed by Nix, you should add these packages to the `default.nix` file instead, and rebuild the environment.

If you want to even make other programs inaccessible to a running Nix environment, you can drop into it using `nix-shell --pure` instead of only `nix-shell`.