vcfR
A genomics workhorse whose visible release feed stops dead in mid-2020.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
texor vs trackeR
A side-by-side editorial comparison of texor and trackeR — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
texor vs trackeR: at a glance
What is texor?
The LaTeX-to-R-Markdown converter that stopped transcribing articles and started making them executable.
texor converts legacy R Journal articles from LaTeX into R Markdown, wrestling with the parts that never translate cleanly: numbering, cross-references, algorithm environments, and macros nobody outside the R Journal uses. Since 1.5.0 it can also emit figures as code chunks and tables as CSV read back through kable(), and target bookdown, litedown or biocstyle. The 2025 releases are repair work — pandoc keeps changing underneath it.
What is trackeR?
Fitness-tracking analysis in slow maintenance, still absorbing upstream breakage.
trackeR reads GPS and fitness-tracker files in TCX, GPX and JSON form and turns them into session data, distribution and concentration profiles, and route plots. Feature work concentrated in the 1.5 series in 2019; the two releases since are corrective. The latest swaps the plot layout dependencies for patchwork and fixes plot_route() returning nothing.
texor vs trackeR: editorial side-by-side
texor
0.0INFRA · APIS
The LaTeX-to-R-Markdown converter that stopped transcribing articles and started making them executable.
◆ Current state
texor converts legacy R Journal articles from LaTeX into R Markdown, wrestling with the parts that never translate cleanly: numbering, cross-references, algorithm environments, and macros nobody outside the R Journal uses. Since 1.5.0 it can also emit figures as code chunks and tables as CSV read back through kable(), and target bookdown, litedown or biocstyle. The 2025 releases are repair work — pandoc keeps changing underneath it.
◆ Where it's heading
Two expansions define the arc. 1.4.0 took on Sweave as a source format, opening the pre-Rmd back catalogue of literate R documents. 1.5.0 changed what comes out the other end, offering executable code chunks and data files where earlier versions produced flat markup. Both moves point the same way: toward converted articles that still compute rather than merely resemble the original. Everything since has been keeping that machinery working against pandoc's release cadence.
◆ Prediction
The last two releases were both triggered by upstream pandoc changes breaking numbering or Lua filters, so the next release is most likely more of the same; new output styles remain the plausible feature direction given how recently that list was extended.
trackeR
0.0INFRA · APIS
Fitness-tracking analysis in slow maintenance, still absorbing upstream breakage.
◆ Current state
trackeR reads GPS and fitness-tracker files in TCX, GPX and JSON form and turns them into session data, distribution and concentration profiles, and route plots. Feature work concentrated in the 1.5 series in 2019; the two releases since are corrective. The latest swaps the plot layout dependencies for patchwork and fixes plot_route() returning nothing.
◆ Where it's heading
Recent releases track other people's changes: ggmap moving to Stadia maps, gridExtra giving way to patchwork, a cadence field being read into the wrong column. The 2019 entries are where the analysis surface was built out, with cumulative elevation gain, compressed file reading and elevation-noise thresholds, and it has not moved much since.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release to be another compatibility or parsing fix rather than a new metric.
Alternatives to texor and trackeR
Other Infra & APIs 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 texor or trackeR.
dialr
The R phone-number package stopped only parsing numbers and started asking them where they are.
ggVennDiagram
A Venn diagram package whose public release notes say almost nothing — including about its copyright cleanup.
ordinalsimr
A Shiny app for choosing the right ordinal test reached CRAN in a single 90-minute burst of tags.
transltr
A new R localization package that reached CRAN and immediately downgraded itself to experimental.
hereR
An R client for HERE's location APIs, shaped almost entirely by what the vendor exposes next.
See all texor alternatives → · See all trackeR alternatives →
Recent activity from texor and trackeR
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 11mo agotrackeRplot_route() fixed; plot layout moved to patchwork
- 1y agotexorBroken figure and table numbering repaired after pandoc updates
- 1y agotexorDESCRIPTION path, cleanup ordering, and a pandoc filter patch
- 1y agotexorExecutable figure chunks, CSV-backed tables, and new vignette styles
- 2y agotexorSweave becomes a supported source format ⚡
- 2y agotrackeRTCX cadence bug fixed; m_per_min units and Stadia maps
- 2y agotexorBookdown-style equation references and LaTeX macro workarounds
- 3y agotexorNumbering for code blocks and wide tables, plus seven more macros
- 7y agotrackeRCompressed file reading and correct GPX power extraction
- 7y agotrackeRvertical_noise threshold for elevation gain
- 7y agotrackeRCumulative elevation gain added as a derived metric
- 7y agotrackeRFortify and print bugs fixed in summary objects
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between texor and trackeR?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. texor and trackeR 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 texor better than trackeR?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. texor and trackeR 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to texor?
Top texor alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "texor alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/texor for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to trackeR?
Top trackeR alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "trackeR alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/tracker for the full list with editorial commentary on each.