drake-gitlab-docker-example

This is an example/template repository for building drake R projects on GitLab CI using Docker. It builds off the drake mtcars example.

Some key features:

• The main build script is make.R, which builds the project in the local environment.
• The build environment is defined in the project Dockerfile and packages required are in DESCRIPTION.
• Two jobs are defined in .gitlab-ci.yml. The first builds or updates the Docker image and is run only when Dockerfile or DESCRIPTION change. The image is stored in GitLab's project-level image registry. The second job builds the drake pipeline.
• Outputs from the drake pipeline (model objects, compiled reports, and a drake network graph) go into artifacts when built. This directory is stored as an artifact with each GitLab build job, but .gitignore'd.
• A metrics file is saved on each run which can be read and reported by GitLab.
• The .drake directory is .gitignore'd but cached on GitLab between jobs so as to minimize build times. It is also stored as a an artifact (`artifacts/drake_cache.zip) so it may be downloaded and re-used.
  • An experimental function in R/get_cache.R imports the drake cache from GitLab CI into the local drake cache. It requires a GitLab access token to be set a GITLAB_PAT in the environment (e.g., in .Renviron).
• A Makefile defines a docker command so that make builds the Docker environment and runs the drake pipeline inside it. This facilitates running the dockerized pipeline locally.
• The RStudio project file (.Rproj) is configured so that make.R is run using "Build All" (Cmd+Shift+B) in the Rstudio build pane.

Please note that this project is released with a Contributor Code of Conduct. By contributing to this project, you agree to abide by its terms.