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Comparison · Analytics

maplegend vs tern.rbmi

A side-by-side editorial comparison of maplegend and tern.rbmi — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

maplegend vs tern.rbmi: at a glance

Featuremaplegendtern.rbmi
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themescartography, legends, base-graphics, spatialpharmaverse, multiple-imputation, cran-maintenance, tabulation
Last editorial update52m ago4h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is maplegend?

The legend engine mapsf spun out, now covering legend types the parent map package can draw.

maplegend draws the legends for base-R thematic maps, extracted from mapsf so both packages could evolve the legend vocabulary independently. It has been catching up to the map types it has to serve: 0.6.0 added choro_point, choro_line, and choro_symb for choropleth legends rendered on circles, lines, and symbols, following the histogram legend type in 0.4.0. Considerable effort has gone into behaving correctly when the plot aspect ratio is not 1, which required refactoring most of the package in 0.4.0 and still produced a proportional-symbol segment sizing fix in 0.6.3.

Read the full maplegend trajectory →

What is tern.rbmi?

Reference-based multiple imputation tables, shipping only what CRAN checks demand.

tern.rbmi renders the output of {rbmi} reference-based multiple imputation analyses into tern tables for clinical reporting. Its three most recent releases exist to satisfy CRAN: restricting vignette builds to gcc, adding V8 to Suggests, and a plain resubmission. No user-facing functionality has changed in the visible window.

Read the full tern.rbmi trajectory →

maplegend vs tern.rbmi: editorial side-by-side

M
maplegend
ANALYTICS
0.0

The legend engine mapsf spun out, now covering legend types the parent map package can draw.

◆ Current state

maplegend draws the legends for base-R thematic maps, extracted from mapsf so both packages could evolve the legend vocabulary independently. It has been catching up to the map types it has to serve: 0.6.0 added choro_point, choro_line, and choro_symb for choropleth legends rendered on circles, lines, and symbols, following the histogram legend type in 0.4.0. Considerable effort has gone into behaving correctly when the plot aspect ratio is not 1, which required refactoring most of the package in 0.4.0 and still produced a proportional-symbol segment sizing fix in 0.6.3.

◆ Where it's heading

This is a support library whose backlog is defined by its caller. Every legend type mapsf can produce needs a matching legend renderer, and the release notes are dominated by spacing, offset, and border details — box_cex for symbol spacing, NA box placement in horizontal choropleth legends, text overflow when no_data is set. The shared vocabulary with mapsf is being maintained deliberately, with val_rnd, val_big, and val_dec propagating through legend types release by release. Version numbering is not monotonic in this feed, with 0.4.0 published seconds after 0.5.0.

◆ Prediction

Expect the remaining combined map types to acquire matching legends and the val_* formatting arguments to reach the types that still lack them.

T
tern.rbmi
ANALYTICS
0.0

Reference-based multiple imputation tables, shipping only what CRAN checks demand.

◆ Current state

tern.rbmi renders the output of {rbmi} reference-based multiple imputation analyses into tern tables for clinical reporting. Its three most recent releases exist to satisfy CRAN: restricting vignette builds to gcc, adding V8 to Suggests, and a plain resubmission. No user-facing functionality has changed in the visible window.

◆ Where it's heading

This is a thin adapter package and behaves like one — it moves when CRAN or an upstream dependency forces it to. Between 2022 and 2024 the feed shows only version bumps, and the 2025 releases are packaging concerns rather than analysis changes.

◆ Prediction

Expect the next release to be triggered by a CRAN check failure or an {rbmi} update rather than by new tabulation features.

Alternatives to maplegend and tern.rbmi

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 maplegend or tern.rbmi.

See all maplegend alternatives → · See all tern.rbmi alternatives →

Recent activity from maplegend and tern.rbmi

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

  1. 2mo agomaplegendContinuous legend formatting and aspect-ratio segment fix
  2. 4mo agomaplegendChoropleth legends on points, lines and symbols
  3. 7mo agomaplegendPackage-wide refactor for non-unity aspect ratios, histogram legends
  4. 7mo agomaplegendSingle-modality legends allowed for typo, symb and prop_line
  5. 1y agotern.rbmiVignette built only under gcc
  6. 1y agomaplegendAlpha transparency and redraw on device resize
  7. 1y agomaplegendOffset and symbol sizing aligned with mapsf
  8. 1y agotern.rbmiV8 added to Suggests
  9. 1y agotern.rbmiCRAN resubmission with dependency and workflow updates

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between maplegend and tern.rbmi?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. maplegend and tern.rbmi 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 maplegend better than tern.rbmi?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. maplegend and tern.rbmi 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 maplegend?

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

What are the best alternatives to tern.rbmi?

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