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rr-packager-dbi

Refering DBI functions in package - which to use?

When developing package using DBI extension (e.g. RJDBC, RSQLite) which package should I refer to?

connect_my_db <- function() DBI::dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), "my_db.sqlite")

or

connect_my_db <- function() RSQLite::dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), "my_db.sqlite")

?

First method force me to use DBI in Imports, so I prefer second one. But on other side I should call virtual function and let R to decide what to call.

Solution

  • The DBI spec do require all backends to re-export all of DBI's methods, so both notations (RSQLite::dbConnect() vs. DBI::dbConnect()) are identical for all practical purposes:

    identical(DBI::dbConnect, RSQLite::dbConnect)
#> [1] TRUE

    The DBI:: notation expresses that you're using a DBI function, but if your package only uses RSQLite it seems fine to use that prefix from a code style point of view.