tidytlg
A tables-listings-graphs package that reached CRAN and then went quiet.
Comparison · Analytics
simtrial vs tinkr
A side-by-side editorial comparison of simtrial and tinkr — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
simtrial vs tinkr: at a glance
What is simtrial?
A fixed-design trial simulator grew a pluggable test framework, then spent a year proving the numbers
simtrial simulates time-to-event clinical trials and applies the tests used to analyse them — logrank, weighted logrank, MaxCombo, RMST, milestone. The 0.4.0 release turned it from a fixed-sample simulator into a group sequential one and standardised every test behind a common output contract, and the releases since have been about making that machinery correct and fast enough to run at scale. Version 1.0.0 arrived in June 2025 with the API settled and three vignettes explaining both the one-call and build-it-yourself paths.
What is tinkr?
Markdown round-tripping through XML, where every release is another thing it learned not to mangle.
tinkr parses Markdown into XML, lets callers manipulate it with XPath, and writes it back out — the yarn R6 class is the whole interface. Its development is defined by a single hard problem: surviving the round trip without corrupting syntax the XML representation does not natively model. Maintenance is shared between two active contributors and release cadence is roughly annual.
simtrial vs tinkr: editorial side-by-side
simtrial
0.0ANALYTICS
A fixed-design trial simulator grew a pluggable test framework, then spent a year proving the numbers
◆ Current state
simtrial simulates time-to-event clinical trials and applies the tests used to analyse them — logrank, weighted logrank, MaxCombo, RMST, milestone. The 0.4.0 release turned it from a fixed-sample simulator into a group sequential one and standardised every test behind a common output contract, and the releases since have been about making that machinery correct and fast enough to run at scale. Version 1.0.0 arrived in June 2025 with the API settled and three vignettes explaining both the one-call and build-it-yourself paths.
◆ Where it's heading
Post-1.0 the work is almost entirely statistical correctness and speed, and it is concentrated in sim_gs_n(): one-sided efficacy bounds, stratified targeted-event cut dates, a helper that derives cuttings straight from the design object. Performance moves in one direction throughout — dplyr replaced by data.table, foreach combination replaced by manual assembly, parallelisation added to sim_fixed_n() — because simulation-based operating characteristics are only useful if you can afford enough replications.
◆ Prediction
The recent fixes cluster on stratified and group sequential paths, so the next release most likely continues there rather than adding a new test type. The cut_from_design() helper suggests tighter coupling to gsDesign2 design objects is the direction of travel.
tinkr
0.0ANALYTICS
Markdown round-tripping through XML, where every release is another thing it learned not to mangle.
◆ Current state
tinkr parses Markdown into XML, lets callers manipulate it with XPath, and writes it back out — the yarn R6 class is the whole interface. Its development is defined by a single hard problem: surviving the round trip without corrupting syntax the XML representation does not natively model. Maintenance is shared between two active contributors and release cadence is roughly annual.
◆ Where it's heading
Each release extends the set of constructs that get protected across the round trip — curly braces, escaped brackets, inline math, dollar signs used as currency, French-style dollars, fenced divs, frontmatter. The 0.3.0 notes also add get_protected(), append_md(), and prepend_md(), which is the first sign of building a manipulation API on top of the protection machinery rather than only widening it.
◆ Prediction
Expect the protection list to keep growing toward full Quarto syntax coverage, which the first release named as the long-term goal and which fenced divs and frontmatter both move toward.
Alternatives to simtrial and tinkr
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 simtrial or tinkr.
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 simtrial alternatives → · See all tinkr alternatives →
Recent activity from simtrial and tinkr
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 8mo agosimtrialOne-sided efficacy bound and stratified cut date corrected
- 11mo agosimtrialsim_gs_n moved to data.table; stratified design example added
- 1y agosimtrial1.0.0 settles the wlr interface and documents both simulation paths
- 1y agotinkrFrontmatter, fenced divs, and content-insertion methods
- 1y agosimtrialMilestone Z-score denominator corrected; parallel sim_fixed_n arrives
- 2y agosimtrialChecks pass without Suggests dependencies
- 2y agosimtrialRMST and milestone tests, plus a user-definable cut and test framework ⚡
- 3y agotinkrProtects curly braces, escaped brackets, and link anchors
- 3y agotinkrFirst release: the extensible yarn R6 class ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between simtrial and tinkr?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. simtrial and tinkr 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 simtrial better than tinkr?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. simtrial and tinkr 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 simtrial?
Top simtrial alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "simtrial alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/simtrial for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to tinkr?
Top tinkr alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "tinkr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/tinkr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.