tidytlg
A tables-listings-graphs package that reached CRAN and then went quiet.
Comparison · Analytics
tern vs Tplyr
A side-by-side editorial comparison of tern and Tplyr — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:clinical-trialstablesr-packagepharmaverse
tern vs Tplyr: at a glance
What is tern?
tern is migrating its entire analysis-function catalogue off make_afun(), one release at a time.
tern builds the clinical-trial tables, listings, and graphs layer on top of rtables — occurrence counts, survival summaries, ANCOVA, incidence rates, subgroup and biomarker tabulations. The visible work across the window is a systematic refactor: dozens of analysis functions rewritten to drop make_afun() and adopt a common analysis-function style driven by rtables' additional_fun_params. Feature additions ride along with it.
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.
tern vs Tplyr: editorial side-by-side
tern
0.0ANALYTICS
tern is migrating its entire analysis-function catalogue off make_afun(), one release at a time.
◆ Current state
tern builds the clinical-trial tables, listings, and graphs layer on top of rtables — occurrence counts, survival summaries, ANCOVA, incidence rates, subgroup and biomarker tabulations. The visible work across the window is a systematic refactor: dozens of analysis functions rewritten to drop make_afun() and adopt a common analysis-function style driven by rtables' additional_fun_params. Feature additions ride along with it.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a multi-release architectural migration, not incremental polish. Each release converts another batch of functions, and the count is large — roughly two dozen in the most recent entry alone, after a comparable batch the release before. Alongside it, the denom parameter is being threaded through counting functions and g_lineplot is accumulating layout control, both patterns of standardising arguments that previously varied per function.
◆ Prediction
The refactor should continue until the make_afun() dependency is gone entirely, with the remaining tabulate_* and biomarker functions the likely next batch; the entries give no date for completion.
Tplyr
0.0ANALYTICS
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 tern 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 tern or Tplyr.
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.
datasetjson
datasetjson rebuilt its object model to track the CDISC Dataset-JSON 1.1 schema.
Recent activity from tern and Tplyr
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1y agoternTwo dozen more analysis functions drop make_afun() ⚡
- 1y agoterndenom threading, custom statistics, and compare_vars merged in
- 1y agoternRisk-difference columns for subgroup tables
- 2y agoterng_lineplot gains faceting and axis controls
- 2y agoTplyrMissing-subject metadata, add_anti_join(), and nested-layer fixes
- 3y agoTplyrMetadata vignette fix and parenthesis hugging
- 3y agoTplyrDenominator logic fix ahead of CRAN release
- 3y agoTplyrReverse-dependency fix
- 3y agoTplyr1.0.0 introduces the traceability metadata framework ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between tern and Tplyr?
Both compete on the same themes — clinical-trials, tables, r-package, pharmaverse — within Analytics. tern and Tplyr 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 tern better than Tplyr?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. tern and Tplyr 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 tern?
Top tern alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "tern alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/tern 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.