[R] Jim Lemon RIP (was Re: save(), load(), saveRDS(), and readRDS())

[Jeff Newmiller]

Thank you for informing us. Jim was a remarkably patient helper of many lost R analysts. His efforts will be missed.

On October 4, 2023 3:36:50 PM PDT, Jim Lemon <drjimlemon using gmail.com> wrote:
>Hello,
>I am very sad to let you know that my husband Jim died on 18th September. I
>apologise for not letting you know earlier but I had trouble finding the
>password for his phone.
>Kind regards,
>Juel
>
>On Fri, 29 Sep 2023, 01:48 Shu Fai Cheung <shufai.cheung using gmail.com wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> There is a thread about the use of save(), load(), saveRDS(), and
>> loadRDS(). It led me to think about a question regarding them.
>>
>> In my personal work, I prefer using saveRDS() and loadRDS() as I don't like
>> the risk of overwriting anything in the global environment. I also like the
>> freedom to name an object when reading it from a file.
>>
>> However, for teaching, I have to teach save() and load() because, in my
>> discipline, it is common for researchers to share their datasets on the
>> internet using the format saved by save(), and so students need to know how
>> to use load() and what will happen when using it. Actually, I can't recall
>> encountering datasets shared by the .rds format. I have been wondering why
>> save() was usually used in that case.
>>
>> That discussion led me to read the help pages again and I noticed the
>> following warning, from the help page of saveRDS():
>>
>> "Files produced by saveRDS (or serialize to a file connection) are not
>> suitable as an interchange format between machines, for example to download
>> from a website. The files produced by save
>> <http://127.0.0.1:18888/library/base/help/save> have a header identifying
>> the file type and so are better protected against erroneous use."
>>
>> When will the problem mentioned in the warning occur? That is, when will a
>> file saved by saveRDS() not be read correctly? Saved in Linux and then read
>> in Windows? Is it possible to create a reproducible error?
>>
>> Regards,
>> Shu Fai
>>
>>         [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>>
>> ______________________________________________
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>> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
>>
>
>	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>
>______________________________________________
>R-help using r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see
>https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
>PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
>and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.

-- 
Sent from my phone. Please excuse my brevity.