n2kanalysis
n2kanalysis has spent eight years wiring INLA models to an S3 bucket.
Comparison · Analytics
omock vs rncl
A side-by-side editorial comparison of omock and rncl — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
omock vs rncl: at a glance
What is omock?
A mock-data generator for OMOP studies that keeps widening what it can fake.
omock builds synthetic OMOP Common Data Model tables so packages in the darwin-eu and OHDSI ecosystem can be tested without touching patient data. The 0.7.0 release adds concept set subsetting with its own vignette, unit and value support in mockMeasurement, observation date validation and cohort attrition initialization, while deprecating mockConcepts. Releases arrive as PR digests rather than written notes.
What is rncl?
A phylogenetics parser on life support, shipping only what CRAN's compilers demand.
rncl wraps the Nexus Class Library so R can read Newick and NEXUS tree files. Every release since 2016 has been custodial: 0.8.9 exists solely to pull upstream NCL changes so the bundled C++ compiles under the C++20 standard. No user-facing function has changed in close to a decade.
omock vs rncl: editorial side-by-side
omock
0.0ANALYTICS
A mock-data generator for OMOP studies that keeps widening what it can fake.
◆ Current state
omock builds synthetic OMOP Common Data Model tables so packages in the darwin-eu and OHDSI ecosystem can be tested without touching patient data. The 0.7.0 release adds concept set subsetting with its own vignette, unit and value support in mockMeasurement, observation date validation and cohort attrition initialization, while deprecating mockConcepts. Releases arrive as PR digests rather than written notes.
◆ Where it's heading
The package has been moving from generating tables to shipping and managing reference datasets — mockDatasets arrived in 0.4.0, mockCdmFromDataset gained a source argument in 0.5.0, and 0.6.1 added download retry handling plus an internal GiBleed dataset after the hosted files moved. The recent work is filling in CDM fidelity: type concepts, measurement units, attrition, and guards for degenerate cases like an empty person table.
◆ Prediction
Expect coverage to keep extending table by table toward the parts of the CDM that omock still cannot mock, with mockConcepts removed outright once the concept set subsetting path settles.
rncl
2.5ANALYTICS
A phylogenetics parser on life support, shipping only what CRAN's compilers demand.
◆ Current state
rncl wraps the Nexus Class Library so R can read Newick and NEXUS tree files. Every release since 2016 has been custodial: 0.8.9 exists solely to pull upstream NCL changes so the bundled C++ compiles under the C++20 standard. No user-facing function has changed in close to a decade.
◆ Where it's heading
The release cadence tracks toolchain deprecations rather than user demand: gcc 12 removing binary_function in 2022, a deprecated Rcpp call in 2025, C++20 in 2026. The package is maintained as a stable parsing dependency for phylogenetics tooling, and the goal visible in these entries is keeping it installable, not extending it.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release only when a compiler or CRAN policy change breaks the build again; nothing in these entries points to new parsing features.
Alternatives to omock and rncl
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 omock or rncl.
n1qn1c
A Fortran-descended optimizer got thread-safe, then found two flags that never worked.
ggstatsplot
ggstatsplot reached 1.0 by adding tests, having outsourced its statistics years ago.
collapse
collapse got a JSS paper and a 7x fmean speedup in the same release.
gtsummary
gtsummary is quietly rebuilding itself around analysis results data, one table verb at a time.
broadcast
broadcast is filling in NumPy-style array broadcasting for R, operator by operator.
Recent activity from omock and rncl
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 15d agornclNCL sources refreshed for C++20 compilation
- 1mo agoomockConcept set subsetting and richer measurement mocks
- 4mo agoomockDelphi dataset added and CDM version bumped
- 6mo agoomockDataset downloads survive the storage move
- 8mo agornclDeprecated Rcpp call removed in maintenance release
- 11mo agoomockJOSS submission tag alongside the 0.5.0 release
- 11mo agoomockmockCdmFromDataset gains a source argument
- 1y agoomockmockDatasets introduces bundled reference data
- 4y agornclBuild fixed for gcc 12 and clang 14
- 6y agornclMaintenance release clearing CRAN check warnings
- 8y agornclCRAN check notes and warnings cleared
- 9y agornclSingleton removal moves to C++ for a 3x speedup
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between omock and rncl?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. rncl is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is omock better than rncl?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. rncl is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to omock?
Top omock alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "omock alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/omock-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to rncl?
Top rncl alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "rncl alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rncl-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.