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Comparison · Analytics
RMVMR vs units
A side-by-side editorial comparison of RMVMR and units — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
RMVMR vs units: at a glance
What is RMVMR?
RMVMR is being tidied in lockstep with MVMR, the package it wraps
RMVMR provides radial multivariable Mendelian randomization — radial IVW estimation and plots layered over the MVMR package's conditional instrument-strength machinery. It has no independent release schedule: versions arrive alongside MVMR's, pin a minimum MVMR version, and fix defects in the seam between the two. Its most recent release landed the same day as new versions of MVMR and OneSampleMR.
What is units?
units reaches 1.0 by rewriting its parser and accepting the breakage that comes with it.
units attaches physical units to R vectors on top of the udunits2 library, covering arithmetic, conversion and ggplot2 scales. Version 1.0-0 replaced the unit-expression tokenizer so numbers are consistently treated as prefixes, and expressions like ml/min/1.73m^2 now parse the way physiologists write them. Printing follows NIST conventions, and 1.0-1 is a fix pass over memory handling and parser edge cases.
RMVMR vs units: editorial side-by-side
RMVMR
0.0ANALYTICS
RMVMR is being tidied in lockstep with MVMR, the package it wraps
◆ Current state
RMVMR provides radial multivariable Mendelian randomization — radial IVW estimation and plots layered over the MVMR package's conditional instrument-strength machinery. It has no independent release schedule: versions arrive alongside MVMR's, pin a minimum MVMR version, and fix defects in the seam between the two. Its most recent release landed the same day as new versions of MVMR and OneSampleMR.
◆ Where it's heading
The work is code hygiene with results held fixed. ivw_rmvmr() now fits the radial IVW model explicitly rather than inheriting variables left over from the orientation loop, an undocumented data element carrying unused intermediate frames is gone, and plot_rmvmr() stops recomputing univariate radial analyses it already has — roughly halving the RadialMR calls with identical output. Each note is explicit that coefficients, standard errors and degrees of freedom are unchanged, which is a deliberate contrast with MVMR's own 2026 releases, where several fixes did change reported values.
◆ Prediction
Because the package pins MVMR versions rather than vendoring behaviour, the next release most likely follows MVMR's next correctness fix; nothing in the notes points to independent feature work.
units
0.0ANALYTICS
units reaches 1.0 by rewriting its parser and accepting the breakage that comes with it.
◆ Current state
units attaches physical units to R vectors on top of the udunits2 library, covering arithmetic, conversion and ggplot2 scales. Version 1.0-0 replaced the unit-expression tokenizer so numbers are consistently treated as prefixes, and expressions like ml/min/1.73m^2 now parse the way physiologists write them. Printing follows NIST conventions, and 1.0-1 is a fix pass over memory handling and parser edge cases.
◆ Where it's heading
The long 0.8-x run was accretion — ggplot2 scales absorbed from ggforce, ud_convert(), matrix methods, steady performance work — while known parsing defects stayed in place. The 1.0 release finally traded backwards compatibility for correct parsing, and 1.0-1's pointer-wrapping and exception-propagation work suggests the C++ glue is being hardened behind it. Fixes cluster at the udunits2 boundary, which remains the main source of surprises.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued patch releases against udunits2 quirks and the new tokenizer's fallout rather than new surface area, with the ggplot2 integration and conversion helpers already in place.
Alternatives to RMVMR and units
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 RMVMR or units.
fastplyr
A fast dplyr stand-in that keeps finding new places to skip work entirely.
trias
Belgium's invasive-species indicator toolkit is in steady refinement, one plotting edge case at a time.
icesSAG
The ICES stock assessment client took upload away in 2024 and spent two years giving it back.
dggridR
A discrete global grid generator grew cell traversal and became a usable spatial index.
vegan
Community ecology's standard toolkit is retiring the functions a generation of scripts was built on.
Recent activity from RMVMR and units
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1mo agoRMVMRRMVMR fixes a gencov error and halves redundant radial calls
- 3mo agoRMVMRRMVMR 0.4.4
- 4mo agoRMVMRRMVMR 0.4.3
- 5mo agounitsMemory-leak and udunits2 parsing fixes after 1.0
- 5mo agoRMVMRRMVMR now requires MVMR 0.4.3 or later
- 10mo agounitsNew tokenizer parses compound units correctly ⚡
- 1y agoRMVMRRMVMR 0.4.1
- 1y agounitsCopy semantics fix in ud_convert(); C++17 for old R
- 1y agounitscbind/rbind methods, ud_convert() and broad fixes
- 1y agounitsSilences a CRAN compiler warning
- 2y agounitsRestores simplify=FALSE for identical units
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between RMVMR and units?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. RMVMR and units 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 RMVMR better than units?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. RMVMR and units 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 RMVMR?
Top RMVMR alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "RMVMR alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rmvmr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to units?
Top units alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "units alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/units-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.