simPDF

Fast, base-R, multi-page PDF reports on the graphics device.

simPDF lays out reports on R’s built-in pdf() / cairo_pdf() device with a measured flowing layout: every block reports its real width and height, the cursor advances by that measured height, and pages break automatically. Text, tables and matrices therefore never overlap, however many rows or parameters they contain — the failure mode of reports built from hand-computed coordinates.

It is a fast, dependency-light alternative to .Rmd/knitr/LaTeX for fixed-format reports: no external toolchain, one write pass, base R only.

Interactive fillable forms (AcroForm CRFs) are out of scope and handled by the sibling package pdfCRF.

Installation

# from CRAN (once available)
install.packages("simPDF")

# from source
install.packages("simPDF_0.1.0.tar.gz", repos = NULL, type = "source")

Quick start

library(simPDF)

doc <- sp_new("report.pdf", paper = "letter")
frame_set(doc, top = doc$H - 45, bottom = 45, left = 45, right = doc$W - 45)

flow_run(doc, list(
  block_para("Summary", size = 16, font = 2),
  block_rule(),
  block_table(head(mtcars)),                       # measured columns, repeats header, splits pages
  block_para("Diagnostics", size = 12, font = 2),
  block_plot(plot(mpg ~ wt, mtcars), height = 220) # a plot, inline with the text
), footer = block_para("CONFIDENTIAL", size = 8, align = "center"))

sp_close(doc)

See vignette("simPDF") for the full guide.

Features

• Flow engine — sp_new(), frame_set(), flow_run(); blocks: block_para (wrapped/aligned text), block_pre (capture.output() dumps), block_table (auto column widths, repeating header, page-splitting), block_matrix (wide matrices split into column groups), block_plot (inline plots), sp_figure_page() (full-page multi-panel figures), block_image, block_keep, block_spacer, block_rule, running headers/footers.
• No overlap — AFM-exact measurement (sp_width/sp_height) drives every placement; sp_trace() / sp_overlaps() let you assert zero overlap in tests.
• Signatures — block_authorship() and block_signature() draw a prepared-by block and approval lines; sp_add_sig_fields() adds interactive Adobe Acrobat signature fields (/Sig) to the finished PDF via a pure base-R incremental update.
• Model flow diagrams — block_flow_diagram() renders a tree of nodes as measured boxes, scaled to fit the page.

Related packages

• nmw uses simPDF for its NONMEM diagnostic reports.
• pdfCRF (sibling) builds interactive clinical CRFs by raw PDF emission.

License

GPL-3. Author/maintainer: Kyun-Seop Bae k@acr.kr.