Datasets.load

datasets.load
Original author(s) Bastiaan Quast
Initial release 14 December 2016 (2016-12-14)
Stable release
0.3.0 / 10 September 2018 (2018-09-10)
Written in R
Size 530.5 kB (v. 0.3.0)
License GPL v3
Website cran.r-project.org

datasets.load is an R package and RStudio plugin, that provides a both Graphical User Interface (GUI) as well as a Command Line Interface for loading datasets. Normally, R only makes datasets of loaded packages visible, datasets.load shows the list of all installed datasets on the local library, including datasets included with packages that haven't been loaded.

R datasets

R functionality is extendible using extensions call R packages. The central place to store package is the Central R Archive network (CRAN). From CRAN, R packages can be installed using the command:

install.packages()

Once installed, R packages can be loaded using the command:

library()

After a package has been loaded, objects available from the package - such as functions and datasets - can be accessed.

The available datasets can listed using the command:

data()

However, datasets from packages that are not loaded, are not listed. As a result, many R users have access to datasets on their local install that are never used. The datasets.load packages addresses this by listed all datasets that are in any packages installed (loaded or not loaded).

Usage

The usage of datasets.load's Command Line Interface is demonstrated in the code snippet below.

> # install the datasets.load package
> install.packages('datasets.load')

> # load the datasets.load package
> library(datasets.load)

> # list the objects in the package (all functions)
> ls("package:datasets.load")
[1] "alldata"        "browseDatasets" "datasets"       "datasets.load"  "getDatasetInfo" "printDatasets" 
[7] "promptDatasets"

> # show all datasets (in a new window)
> datasets()

A video demonstrating the usage is available on YouTube.

Functionality

The basic functionality of datasets.load is to expose all installed datasets to the user, including those in packages that are not loaded. There is a Command Line Interface which can be user from any R terminal.

In addition to this, there is also a Graphical User Interface for the RStudio Integrated Development Environment, using RStudio Addins.

Reception

The initial release of version 0.1.0 took place in December 2016, and averaged a download rate of 1,000 times per month, from the RStudio servers alone. With the release of version 0.3.0 in 2018, the download rate increased to 2,000 times per month, putting the package in the 9th percentile of most popular R packages.[1] The package was reviewed in the 2017 article "R Packages worth a look" on Data Analytics & R[2], which further increased usage. It is also frequently preinstalled on university computers[3], in order to help make R more accessible to students.

The RStudio CRAN mirror download logs [4] show that the package is downloaded on average about 2000 times per month from those servers [5], with a total of over 30,000 downloads since the first release [6], according to RDocumentation.org, this puts the package in the 9th percentile of most popular R packages [7].

References

  1. ↑ "bquast/datasets.load". GitHub. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  2. ↑ "R Packages worth a look". Data Analytics & R. 2017-01-05. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  3. ↑ "R packages installed - ITS - Carlpedia - Carleton College Wiki". wiki.carleton.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  4. ↑ "RStudio CRAN logs".
  5. ↑ "CRANlogs datasets.load package".
  6. ↑ "CRANlogs datasets.load package".
  7. ↑ "RDocumentation rnn".
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