qqman
The Manhattan-plot package for GWAS results, finished and dormant since 2017.
Comparison · Analytics
tern.mmrm vs vellumplot
A side-by-side editorial comparison of tern.mmrm and vellumplot — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
tern.mmrm vs vellumplot: at a glance
What is tern.mmrm?
An MMRM tabulation package that has published nothing since its 2024 CRAN releases.
tern.mmrm wraps mixed models for repeated measures into the tern tabulation and plotting layer used by teal clinical modules. The visible history ends with three CRAN releases in mid-to-late 2024; before that the feed carries only automated version bumps from 2022, three of which have just been backfilled into the record. The most recent substantive change adds axis limit arguments to the LS-means plot.
What is vellumplot?
vellumplot tags its first release with a bet most R grammars don't make: the static figure and the widget are the same object.
A new grammar of graphics built on the vellum vector engine, developing fast — ten releases in roughly three weeks — and now at its first tagged release. The distinguishing architectural claim is that the compiled plot is the scene, so a static export and an interactive widget cannot drift apart, and that it renders without a graphics device because vellum measures text itself. Accessibility is treated as a first-class output rather than an afterthought: tagged PDF with a navigable structure tree and alt text, a plot_lint() check, and colour-vision-deficiency simulation at render time.
tern.mmrm vs vellumplot: editorial side-by-side
tern.mmrm
0.0ANALYTICS
An MMRM tabulation package that has published nothing since its 2024 CRAN releases.
◆ Current state
tern.mmrm wraps mixed models for repeated measures into the tern tabulation and plotting layer used by teal clinical modules. The visible history ends with three CRAN releases in mid-to-late 2024; before that the feed carries only automated version bumps from 2022, three of which have just been backfilled into the record. The most recent substantive change adds axis limit arguments to the LS-means plot.
◆ Where it's heading
Content per release is thin and largely organisational: a maintainer change, replacing scda with random.cdisc.data in vignettes, and adapting to new {mmrm} versions. The package appears to be in maintenance, tracking its upstream dependency rather than developing independently. The 2022 entries now visible are release-automation commits, not releases in any meaningful sense.
◆ Prediction
Nothing here signals new functionality; the realistic next event is another compatibility release when {mmrm} or {rtables} changes underneath it.
vellumplot
6.3ANALYTICS
vellumplot tags its first release with a bet most R grammars don't make: the static figure and the widget are the same object.
◆ Current state
A new grammar of graphics built on the vellum vector engine, developing fast — ten releases in roughly three weeks — and now at its first tagged release. The distinguishing architectural claim is that the compiled plot is the scene, so a static export and an interactive widget cannot drift apart, and that it renders without a graphics device because vellum measures text itself. Accessibility is treated as a first-class output rather than an afterthought: tagged PDF with a navigable structure tree and alt text, a plot_lint() check, and colour-vision-deficiency simulation at render time.
◆ Where it's heading
The release sequence shows a grammar filling in ggplot2-parity features and specialist marks in parallel. Parity work landed as secondary axes, rich legend titles, and Sankey styling; the specialist end added categorical datashading, image marks, flow maps and edge bundling for dense graphs. Version 0.7.0 shows a willingness to break early — vsunburst() was removed outright in favour of one vhierarchy() constructor covering sunburst, icicle, treemap and circlepack — which is the right time to do it and suggests the API is still being consolidated toward fewer, more general constructors.
◆ Prediction
Expect more consolidation of near-duplicate constructors under type arguments and continued expansion of the declarative interactivity introduced in 0.7.0, now that the first tagged release has fixed a public API surface.
Alternatives to tern.mmrm and vellumplot
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 tern.mmrm or vellumplot.
constants
The R package for CODATA constants rebuilt its symbol table on NIST's naming so future updates stop being hand work.
austraits
The R client for AusTraits spends its releases chasing the dataset it reads.
ggdemetra
A ggplot2 layer for seasonal adjustment output, filling in one plot type at a time.
fossilsim
A fossil-record simulator that quietly grew a trait-evolution engine.
tern.rbmi
Reference-based multiple imputation tables, shipping only what CRAN checks demand.
See all tern.mmrm alternatives → · See all vellumplot alternatives →
Recent activity from tern.mmrm and vellumplot
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 14d agovellumplotFirst tagged release: one spec compiles to PNG, SVG, tagged PDF and a widget ⚡
- 19d agovellumplotFlow maps and edge bundling for dense graph plots
- 25d agovellumplotvhierarchy() replaces vsunburst(); declarative interactivity arrives
- 26d agovellumplotSankey crossing minimisation and per-branch sunburst colouring
- 1mo agovellumplotSecondary axes land; rich legend titles stop clipping
- 1mo agovellumplotCategorical datashading in one call, plus image marks at data points
- 1y agotern.mmrmAxis limits added to the LS-means plot
- 2y agotern.mmrmMaintainer change and scda replaced in vignettes
- 2y agotern.mmrmCRAN 0.3.0 release, mostly workflow housekeeping
- 3y agotern.mmrmAutomated version bump to 0.2.1
- 3y agotern.mmrmPre-release branch merge
- 4y agotern.mmrmCI automation commit, no release content
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between tern.mmrm and vellumplot?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. vellumplot is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 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 tern.mmrm better than vellumplot?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. vellumplot is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 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 tern.mmrm?
Top tern.mmrm alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "tern.mmrm alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/tern-mmrm for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to vellumplot?
Top vellumplot alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "vellumplot alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/vellumplot for the full list with editorial commentary on each.