diff --git a/eclass/R-packages.eclass b/eclass/R-packages.eclass
index 6cbf9d7d35..51765af2b4 100644
--- a/eclass/R-packages.eclass
+++ b/eclass/R-packages.eclass
@@ -1,9 +1,25 @@
-# Copyright 1999-2021 Gentoo Authors
+# Copyright 1999-2022 Gentoo Authors
 # Distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License v2
 
+# @ECLASS: R-packages.eclass
+# @AUTHOR:
+# André Erdmann <dywi@mailerd.de>
+# Denis Dupeyron <calchan@gentoo.org>
+# Benda Xu <heroxbd@gentoo.org>
+# Alessandro Barbieri <lssndrbarbieri@gmail.com>
+# @BLURB: eclass to build R packages
+# @MAINTAINER:
+# Alessandro Barbieri <lssndrbarbieri@gmail.com>
+# @SUPPORTED_EAPIS: 7
+
 inherit eutils optfeature toolchain-funcs
 
-EXPORT_FUNCTIONS src_unpack src_prepare src_compile src_install pkg_postinst
+case ${EAPI} in
+	7) ;;
+	*) die "${ECLASS}: EAPI ${EAPI} unsupported."
+esac
+
+EXPORT_FUNCTIONS src_unpack src_prepare src_configure src_compile src_install pkg_postinst
 
 SRC_URI="mirror://cran/src/contrib/${PN}_${PV}.tar.gz"
 HOMEPAGE="https://cran.r-project.org/package=${PN}"
@@ -12,14 +28,24 @@ SLOT="0"
 
 DEPEND="dev-lang/R"
 RDEPEND="${DEPEND}"
+BDEPEND="sys-apps/pkgcore"
 
-dodocrm() {
+# @FUNCTION: _movelink
+# @INTERNAL
+# @USAGE: [<source> <dest>]
+# @DESCRIPTION:
+# <dest> will contain symlinks to everything in <source>
+_movelink() {
 	if [ -e "${1}" ]; then
-		dodoc -r "${1}"
-		rm -rf "${1}" || die
+		local rp1="$(realpath ${1})" || die
+		mv "${rp1}" "${2}" || die
+		cp -rsf "${2}" "${rp1}" || die
 	fi
 }
 
+# @FUNCTION: R-packages_src_unpack
+# @DESCRIPTION:
+# function to unpack R packages into the right folder
 R-packages_src_unpack() {
 	unpack ${A}
 	if [[ -d "${PN//_/.}" ]] && [[ ! -d "${P}" ]]; then
@@ -27,43 +53,91 @@ R-packages_src_unpack() {
 	fi
 }
 
+# @FUNCTION: R-packages_src_prepare
+# @DESCRIPTION:
+# function to remove unwanted files from the sources
 R-packages_src_prepare() {
 	rm -f LICENSE || die
 	default
 }
 
+# @FUNCTION: R-packages_src_configure
+# @DESCRIPTION:
+# dummy function to disable configure
+R-packages_src_configure() { :; }
+
+# @FUNCTION: R-packages_src_compile
+# @DESCRIPTION:
+# function that will pass some environment variables to R and then build/install the package
 R-packages_src_compile() {
-	MAKEFLAGS="AR=$(tc-getAR) CFLAGS=${CFLAGS// /\\ } CXXFLAGS=${CXXFLAGS// /\\ } FFLAGS=${FFLAGS// /\\ } FCFLAGS=${FCFLAGS// /\\ } LDFLAGS=${LDFLAGS// /\\ }" R CMD INSTALL . -l "${WORKDIR}" "--byte-compile" || die
+	MAKEFLAGS=" \
+		${MAKEFLAGS// /\\ } \
+		AR=$(tc-getAR) \
+		CC=$(tc-getCC) \
+		CPP=$(tc-getCPP) \
+		CXX=$(tc-getCXX) \
+		FC=$(tc-getFC) \
+		LD=$(tc-getLD) \
+		NM=$(tc-getNM) \
+		RANLIB=$(tc-getRANLIB) \
+		CFLAGS=${CFLAGS// /\\ } \
+		CPPFLAGS=${CPPFLAGS// /\\ } \
+		CXXFLAGS=${CXXFLAGS// /\\ } \
+		FFLAGS=${FFLAGS// /\\ } \
+		FCFLAGS=${FCFLAGS// /\\ } \
+		LDFLAGS=${LDFLAGS// /\\ } \
+		MAKEOPTS=${MAKEOPTS// /\\ } \
+	" \
+	R CMD INSTALL . -l "${WORKDIR}" "--byte-compile" || die
 }
 
+
+# @FUNCTION: R-packages_src_install
+# @DESCRIPTION:
+# function to move the files in the right folders
+# documentation and examples to docsdir, symlinked back to R site-library (to allow access from within R)
+# everything else to R site-library
 R-packages_src_install() {
-	cd "${WORKDIR}/${PN//_/.}" || die
+	pushd "${WORKDIR}/${PN//_/.}" || die
 
-	dodocrm examples || die
-	#dodocrm DESCRIPTION || die #keep this
-	dodocrm NEWS.md || die
-	dodocrm README.md || die
-	dodocrm html || die
+	local DOCS_DIR="${ED}/usr/share/doc/${PF}"
 
-	if [ -e doc ]; then
-		if [ -e doc/html ]; then
-			docinto "${DOCSDIR}/html"
-			dodoc -r doc/*.html
-			rm -r doc/*.html || die
-			docompress -x "${DOCSDIR}/html"
-		fi
+	mkdir -p "${DOCS_DIR}" || die
 
-		docinto "${DOCSDIR}"
-		dodoc -r doc/.
-		rm -r doc || die
+	for i in NEWS.md README.md DESCRIPTION examples ; do
+		_movelink "${i}" "${DOCS_DIR}/${i}" || die
+	done
+
+	if [ -e html ]; then
+		_movelink html "${DOCS_DIR}/html" || die
+		docompress -x "${DOCS_DIR}/html"
 	fi
+	if [ -e doc ]; then
+		pushd doc || die
+		for i in * ; do
+			_movelink "${i}" "${DOCS_DIR}/${i}" || die
+		done
+		popd || die
+	fi
+	if [ -e doc/html ]; then
+		docompress -x "${DOCS_DIR}/html"
+	fi
+	docompress -x "${DOCS_DIR}"
 
 	insinto "/usr/$(get_libdir)/R/site-library"
 	doins -r "${WORKDIR}/${PN//_/.}"
 }
 
+# @FUNCTION: R-packages_pkg_postinst
+# @DESCRIPTION:
+# function that will prompt to install the suggested packages if they exist
 R-packages_pkg_postinst() {
 	if [ -v SUGGESTED_PACKAGES ]; then
-		optfeature "having the upstream suggested packages" "${SUGGESTED_PACKAGES}"
+		for p in ${SUGGESTED_PACKAGES} ; do
+			pexist=$(pquery -n1 "${p}" 2>/dev/null) || die
+			if [ -n "${pexist}" ]; then
+				optfeature "having the upstream suggested package" "${p}"
+			fi
+		done
 	fi
 }