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Comparison · Analytics

rbmi vs Tplyr

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

Shared themes:clinical-trialspharmaverser-package

rbmi vs Tplyr: at a glance

FeaturerbmiTplyr
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score2.50.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesclinical-trials, missing-data, multiple-imputation, pharmaverseclinical-trials, tables, traceability, r-package
Last editorial update4h ago59m ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is rbmi?

Reference-based multiple imputation for trials, now shipping without Bayesian support by default.

rbmi implements reference-based multiple imputation for longitudinal clinical trial data with missing values — the estimand machinery regulators expect for handling intercurrent events and dropout. The consequential recent change was 1.3.0 moving rstan from a hard dependency to Suggests, which takes Bayesian imputation out of the default install. Since then the work has been documentation and nomenclature discipline: 1.6.1 standardized on MNAR over a mixed NMAR/MNAR vocabulary and deprecated the nmar.rm argument accordingly.

Read the full rbmi trajectory →

What is Tplyr?

Tplyr made clinical summary tables explain where every number came from.

Tplyr builds clinical summary tables through a layered grammar — count, descriptive statistics, and shift layers assembled onto a table object. The 1.0.0 release added a traceability metadata framework that lets a user ask which source rows produced any given cell, and later releases extended it to cases the first pass missed. The package is maintained by Atorus within the pharmaverse ecosystem.

Read the full Tplyr trajectory →

rbmi vs Tplyr: editorial side-by-side

R
rbmi
ANALYTICS
2.5

Reference-based multiple imputation for trials, now shipping without Bayesian support by default.

◆ Current state

rbmi implements reference-based multiple imputation for longitudinal clinical trial data with missing values — the estimand machinery regulators expect for handling intercurrent events and dropout. The consequential recent change was 1.3.0 moving rstan from a hard dependency to Suggests, which takes Bayesian imputation out of the default install. Since then the work has been documentation and nomenclature discipline: 1.6.1 standardized on MNAR over a mixed NMAR/MNAR vocabulary and deprecated the nmar.rm argument accordingly.

◆ Where it's heading

The package is optimizing for adoption friction over feature breadth. Dropping a compiled Stan dependency from the default install, deprecating a bespoke seed argument in favor of base set.seed(), and aligning lsmeans() behavior and weight naming with emmeans all point the same direction — behave like a conventional R package rather than a specialized one. Documentation work in 1.6.1 covering @return on every exported function and executable examples reads as preparation for validation scrutiny rather than user demand.

◆ Prediction

Given the FAQ vignette's validation statement and the recent documentation completeness pass, the next work is more likely qualification and estimand documentation than new imputation methods.

T
Tplyr
ANALYTICS
0.0

Tplyr made clinical summary tables explain where every number came from.

◆ Current state

Tplyr builds clinical summary tables through a layered grammar — count, descriptive statistics, and shift layers assembled onto a table object. The 1.0.0 release added a traceability metadata framework that lets a user ask which source rows produced any given cell, and later releases extended it to cases the first pass missed. The package is maintained by Atorus within the pharmaverse ecosystem.

◆ Where it's heading

Post-1.0 work has been about completing the metadata story and filling gaps in layer composition rather than adding table types — metadata for missing subjects, add_anti_join(), missing-subject rows, data limiting, and fixes to nested count layers where an inner value appears under several outer groups. Releases cluster tightly after a major version, then go quiet, and the window ends with a patch issued days after the release it corrects.

◆ Prediction

Further releases will most likely continue closing traceability and nested-layer edge cases rather than introducing new layer types, following the pattern of both post-1.0 feature releases.

Alternatives to rbmi and Tplyr

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 rbmi or Tplyr.

See all rbmi alternatives → · See all Tplyr alternatives →

Recent activity from rbmi and Tplyr

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

  1. 22d agorbmiMNAR nomenclature standardized, documentation completed
  2. 1y agorbmirstan demoted to Suggests, Bayesian imputation now opt-in
  3. 2y agoTplyrMissing-subject metadata, add_anti_join(), and nested-layer fixes
  4. 2y agorbmirbmi v1.2.5
  5. 3y agoTplyrMetadata vignette fix and parenthesis hugging
  6. 3y agoTplyrDenominator logic fix ahead of CRAN release
  7. 3y agoTplyrReverse-dependency fix
  8. 3y agoTplyr1.0.0 introduces the traceability metadata framework

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between rbmi and Tplyr?

Both compete on the same themes — clinical-trials, pharmaverse, r-package — within Analytics. rbmi 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 rbmi better than Tplyr?

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

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

What are the best alternatives to Tplyr?

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