tidytlg
A tables-listings-graphs package that reached CRAN and then went quiet.
Comparison · Analytics
r2rtf vs slider
A side-by-side editorial comparison of r2rtf and slider — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
r2rtf vs slider: at a glance
What is r2rtf?
The clinical-report table engine learned Chinese, then learned to leave RTF entirely
r2rtf builds the RTF tables, listings and figures that go into clinical study reports, and its recent releases have been about widening who and what it can serve rather than changing how tables are composed. The 1.2.0 release added internationalization — a SimSun font path for Chinese characters plus hyphenation control — and 1.3.0 followed with write_docx() and write_html(), turning the LibreOffice conversion the package had documented into exported functions.
What is slider?
Feature-complete since 2021, and every release since has been paying CRAN's C API bill
slider provides sliding-window and index-aware window functions for R, with a C implementation underneath and a specialised fast path for common aggregations. The user-facing surface has been stable since 0.3.0 in late 2022. Everything after that is compliance and platform work: STRING_PTR removed in 0.3.2, OBJECT() removed in 0.3.3, a vctrs callable's C signature corrected, and the minimum R version raised twice.
r2rtf vs slider: editorial side-by-side
r2rtf
0.0ANALYTICS
The clinical-report table engine learned Chinese, then learned to leave RTF entirely
◆ Current state
r2rtf builds the RTF tables, listings and figures that go into clinical study reports, and its recent releases have been about widening who and what it can serve rather than changing how tables are composed. The 1.2.0 release added internationalization — a SimSun font path for Chinese characters plus hyphenation control — and 1.3.0 followed with write_docx() and write_html(), turning the LibreOffice conversion the package had documented into exported functions.
◆ Where it's heading
Two threads run through the window. One is output reach: RTF remains the composition target, but the artifacts that come out of it now include DOCX and HTML, and page numbering can be made table-relative across multi-page tables. The other is durability under a moving R and font stack — the ANSI/Unicode converter was rebuilt, the LaTeX mapping table generated from code rather than shipped as sysdata, unlist() usage fixed for R 4.5, and graphics-device leaks that produced stray Rplots.pdf closed off.
◆ Prediction
Having exported DOCX and HTML conversion, the likely next step is filling in what those formats lose relative to RTF — pagination and footnote fidelity are the obvious gaps. The i18n path currently covers Chinese only, so additional font families are the other plausible direction.
slider
0.0ANALYTICS
Feature-complete since 2021, and every release since has been paying CRAN's C API bill
◆ Current state
slider provides sliding-window and index-aware window functions for R, with a C implementation underneath and a specialised fast path for common aggregations. The user-facing surface has been stable since 0.3.0 in late 2022. Everything after that is compliance and platform work: STRING_PTR removed in 0.3.2, OBJECT() removed in 0.3.3, a vctrs callable's C signature corrected, and the minimum R version raised twice.
◆ Where it's heading
Two forces set the release schedule, and neither is feature demand. The first is CRAN closing off non-API C entry points, which packages reaching into R internals for speed have to unwind one accessor at a time — slider is on its second such release with no visible loss of function. The second is vctrs, whose breaking changes slider absorbs ahead of time; 0.2.2 exists solely to prepare for one. The last release that added anything callers can see was 0.3.0's slider_plus() and slider_minus() extension hooks.
◆ Prediction
Expect the pattern to continue: another non-API accessor removal or a vctrs compatibility release, rather than new window functions. The C-level surface is the only part of this package still moving.
Alternatives to r2rtf and slider
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 r2rtf or slider.
Tplyr
Tplyr made clinical summary tables explain where every number came from.
rlistings
Clinical listings that keep inheriting their hardest problem — pagination — from the layer below.
hoardr
A cache-directory helper that has shipped nothing but CRAN-triggered patches for seven years.
gigs
gigs redesigned its whole conversion API for rOpenSci, then spent three releases getting the docs to build.
riem
A weather-data client that keeps rewriting its HTTP layer while slowly tightening its API.
See all r2rtf alternatives → · See all slider alternatives →
Recent activity from r2rtf and slider
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 7mo agor2rtfDOCX and HTML output become exported functions
- 9mo agosliderNon-API OBJECT() removed and a vctrs C signature fixed
- 11mo agor2rtfChinese character support arrives via an i18n font path ⚡
- 1y agor2rtfText colour fixed for figures encoded into RTF
- 1y agor2rtfFootnote handling fixed for R 4.5.0
- 1y agor2rtfUnicode converter rebuilt and mapping table made inspectable
- 1y agosliderNon-API STRING_PTR removed; R 4.0.0 now required
- 2y agor2rtfUTF-8 conversion fix and LibreOffice 7.6 support
- 2y agosliderValgrind test fixes and dependency version bumps
- 3y agosliderExtension hooks let clock and almanac types serve as an index
- 5y agosliderInternal vec_order usage updated ahead of a vctrs break
- 5y agosliderlong double alignment issue fixed for CRAN sanitisers
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between r2rtf and slider?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. r2rtf and slider 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 r2rtf better than slider?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. r2rtf and slider 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 r2rtf?
Top r2rtf alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "r2rtf alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/r2rtf for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to slider?
Top slider alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "slider alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/slider for the full list with editorial commentary on each.