[Rd] creating a package from a development source tree

[Greg Minshall]

hi.  this is sort of a software methodology question.

i'm working on developing a package (with C source code).  developing
it, i use autotools, git, make, and such like.  as a result, there are
random files in my source code directory that "R CMD check" would rather
not see.  some of these files (such as .git and friends) i could arrange
to move to "just above" my development subtree; others of these (such as
configure.ac and the random crud autoreconf(1) and friends leave laying
around) can't be moved (afaik).

i'm curious how people move from their personal development tree to a
tree from which the package can be passed to "R CMD *".  do "you" have a
makefile in their tree that creates this?  during development, is this
the path you use for building and testing?

cheers, Greg Minshall