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Comparison · Analytics

forestly vs sdtm.oak

A side-by-side editorial comparison of forestly and sdtm.oak — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

forestly vs sdtm.oak: at a glance

Featureforestlysdtm.oak
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesclinical-safety, adverse-events, data-visualization, r-languageclinical-trials, sdtm, pharmaverse, r-package
Last editorial update1h ago3h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is forestly?

forestly built an interactive safety review tool, then taught it to produce submission-ready RTF.

forestly renders adverse-event forest plots as interactive reactable widgets — filterable by AE category, with sliders for incidence thresholds and a toggle for the risk-difference column. Version 0.1.3 added `rtf_static_forestly()` for static RTF output, and 0.1.4 has been about giving the display owner control over what reviewers see: the CSV download button, the AE filter label, and the diff toggle can each be switched off.

Read the full forestly trajectory →

What is sdtm.oak?

Two releases in, the open-source SDTM toolkit now covers the domains it originally excluded.

sdtm.oak builds SDTM datasets — the tabulation standard clinical trial submissions are filed in — from raw collected data. The 0.1.0 release shipped the mapping algorithm functions and derived-variable helpers but explicitly excluded DM, trial design domains, and several others. Version 0.2.0 closes the largest of those gaps, adding DM domain support via calc_min_max_date() and oak_calc_ref_dates(), plus generate_sdtm_supp() for supplemental qualifier domains.

Read the full sdtm.oak trajectory →

forestly vs sdtm.oak: editorial side-by-side

F
forestly
ANALYTICS
0.0

forestly built an interactive safety review tool, then taught it to produce submission-ready RTF.

◆ Current state

forestly renders adverse-event forest plots as interactive reactable widgets — filterable by AE category, with sliders for incidence thresholds and a toggle for the risk-difference column. Version 0.1.3 added `rtf_static_forestly()` for static RTF output, and 0.1.4 has been about giving the display owner control over what reviewers see: the CSV download button, the AE filter label, and the diff toggle can each be switched off.

◆ Where it's heading

The arc runs from a fixed interactive widget toward a configurable one with two output modes. Nearly every new argument in the last two releases exists to remove something from the display or relabel it, which suggests the users driving development are producing outputs for others to review under conventions they do not control. The x-axis range, column header, figure header and slider range arguments point the same way — this is a tool being fitted into standardised reporting rather than used ad hoc.

◆ Prediction

Given that the last two releases have consisted almost entirely of display-control arguments, the next is likely more of the same, applied to whichever parts of the interactive layout are still fixed.

S
sdtm.oak
ANALYTICS
0.0

Two releases in, the open-source SDTM toolkit now covers the domains it originally excluded.

◆ Current state

sdtm.oak builds SDTM datasets — the tabulation standard clinical trial submissions are filed in — from raw collected data. The 0.1.0 release shipped the mapping algorithm functions and derived-variable helpers but explicitly excluded DM, trial design domains, and several others. Version 0.2.0 closes the largest of those gaps, adding DM domain support via calc_min_max_date() and oak_calc_ref_dates(), plus generate_sdtm_supp() for supplemental qualifier domains.

◆ Where it's heading

This is the pharmaverse pattern of building submission tooling in the open, one domain class at a time, with the release history running through GitHub release-candidate tags before each CRAN submission. The direction is clear from the domain checklist: start with the mechanically simple Findings and Events domains, then work toward the ones with cross-dataset dependencies. DM and SUPP were the two that most often forced teams back to bespoke code.

◆ Prediction

The remaining exclusions from the 0.1.0 scope — trial design domains, SV, SE, RELREC and the EPOCH variable — are the obvious next targets, with EPOCH likely first since it depends on the reference dates 0.2.0 just added. Expect the same rhythm of release candidates ahead of each CRAN submission.

Alternatives to forestly and sdtm.oak

Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either forestly or sdtm.oak.

See all forestly alternatives → · See all sdtm.oak alternatives →

Recent activity from forestly and sdtm.oak

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 5mo agoforestlyDownload button, AE filter label and diff toggle become optional
  2. 11mo agoforestlyStatic RTF forest plots join the interactive output
  3. 1y agosdtm.oaksdtm.oak v0.2.0 CRAN release
  4. 1y agoforestlyreactR 0.6.0 rendering fix and slider label control
  5. 1y agosdtm.oaksdtm.oak v0.1.1 CRAN release
  6. 1y agosdtm.oaksdtm.oak v0.1.0 CRAN release
  7. 1y agosdtm.oakv0.1.0rc4: [skip vbump] 90 cran comments (#91)
  8. 2y agosdtm.oakv0.1.0rc2: Fix CRAN Comments (#84)
  9. 2y agosdtm.oakv0.1.0: [skip vbump] Bump version for cran release (#77)
  10. 2y agoforestlyTreatment group selection and rough-edge fixes
  11. 3y agoforestlyFirst release on GitHub and CRAN

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between forestly and sdtm.oak?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. forestly and sdtm.oak are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is forestly better than sdtm.oak?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. forestly and sdtm.oak are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to forestly?

Top forestly alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "forestly alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/forestly for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to sdtm.oak?

Top sdtm.oak alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "sdtm.oak alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/sdtm-oak for the full list with editorial commentary on each.