NEWS.md

SSBtools 1.6.0

• AutoHierarchies() has been updated to recognize common from-to names, and the sign variable is now optional.
  • See the new parameter autoNames for details on common from-to names.
  • Also note the new parameter autoLevel, with a default value (TRUE) that ensures the function behaves as it always has.
  • NAs in the 'to' variable are now allowed to support common hierarchies, and rows where 'to' == 'from' are also allowed. Such rows are removed before processing the hierarchy, with a warning when relevant (Codes removed due to 'to' == 'from' or 'to' == NA).
  • Output from functions like get_klass() in the klassR package or hier_create() in the sdcHierarchies package can now be used directly as input.
  • Example of usage:

    a <- get_klass(classification = "24")
    b <- hier_create(root = "Total", nodes = LETTERS[1:5])
    AutoHierarchies(list(tree = a, letter = b))

• New hierarchy functionality with hierarchies coded as variables (minimal datasets):
  • New function hierarchies_as_vars():
    • Hierarchies coded as variables.
  • New function vars_to_hierarchies():
    • Transform hierarchies coded as variables to "to-from" format.
    • A kind of reverse operation of hierarchies_as_vars().
  • New function map_hierarchies_to_data():
    • Add variables to dataset based on hierarchies.
    • Uses hierarchies_as_vars() to transform hierarchies, followed by mapping to the dataset.
• New function max_contribution() with wrapper n_contributors().
  • Find major contributions to aggregates and count contributors.
  • Improved versions of MaxContribution() and Ncontributors() developed in the GaussSuppression package.
• New function table_all_integers().
  • Table all integers from 1 to n
• New function total_collapse().
  • Collapse variables to single representation.
• New function substitute_formula_vars().
  • Part of the utility functions listed under ?formula_utils.
  • An improved version of formula_include_hierarchies(), which has been renamed for clarity and corrected to produce the intended output.
• Allow "empty terms" in FormulaSums() when viaSparseMatrix = TRUE.
  • "Empty terms" refer to cases where no columns exist in the model matrix due to NAomit.
  • The old method (viaSparseMatrix = FALSE) already handled this correctly.
• Minor improvement to Extent0().
  • Now allows 0 input rows when hierarchical = FALSE.
• Minor improvement to FormulaSelection() and its identical wrapper formula_selection().
  • Now supports 0-length selections.

SSBtools 1.5.5

• The function FormulaSelection() and thereby the identical wrapper formula_selection() have been generalized.
  • New parameter named logical: When TRUE, the logical selection vector is returned.
  • FormulaSelection() is now a generic function, allowing methods for other input objects to be added.

SSBtools 1.5.4

• The GaussSuppression() function and related functionality have now been documented in a "Privacy in Statistical Databases 2024" paper.
  • The package description and function documentations have been updated with this reference (Langsrud, 2024).
• Now the data.table package is listed under Suggests and can be utilized in two functions. See below.
• New function, aggregate_by_pkg()
  • This function aggregates data by specified grouping variables, using either base R or data.table.
  • Note the parameter include_na: A logical value indicating whether NA values in the grouping variables should be included in the aggregation. Default is FALSE.
  • Will be used in packages depending on SSBtools.
• NAomit is new parameter to RowGroups() and Formula2ModelMatrix()/FormulaSums().
  • This is about NAs in the grouping variables.
  • The parameter can be used as input to ModelMatrix().
• pkg is new parameter to RowGroups()
  • Must be either "base" (default) or "data.table" (for improved speed).
• Improved speed of Formula2ModelMatrix()/FormulaSums().
  • Thus, improved speed of ModelMatrix().
  • Now, the model matrix is constructed by a single call to Matrix::sparseMatrix() instead of building the transposed matrix with rbind() based on numerous Matrix::fac2sparse() calls.
  • Further speed improvement can be achieved by setting the new parameter, rowGroupsPackage, to data.table.
• An efficiency bug in ModelMatrix() is fixed.
  • With viaOrdinary = TRUE, model.matrix() or sparse.model.matrix() was called twice.
• combine_formulas() is improved
  • A long string problem solved, when long formulas.
• Some technical changes in documentation to comply with standards.

SSBtools 1.5.2

• The ModelMatrix() function and related functionality for hierarchical computations have now been documented in a paper in The R Journal.
  • The package description has been updated with this reference (Langsrud, 2023).
• Now, remove_empty is an explicit parameter to model_aggregate().
  • Previously, this had to be done via the mm_args parameter. Old code works as before.
• Some tools for formula manipulation are included.
  • See ?formula_utils
• Minor change in Extend0() to allow even more advanced possibilities by varGroups-attribute.
• Fix for a rare problem in GaussSuppression(),
  • Could happen with parallel eliminations combined with integer overflow. Then warning message: longer object length is not a multiple of shorter object length
• Minor change to the singleton method "anySum" in GaussSuppression() to align with best theory.
  • In practice, this rarely makes a difference.
  • The previous behavior can be ensured by setting singletonMethod to either "anySumOld" or "anySumNOTprimaryOld".
• Fixed a zero-weight issue in quantile_weighted().
  • Now, quantile_weighted(x=c(0,2,0), weights = c(1,1,0)) correctly outputs the 50% value as 1.
• A function for checking function inputs has been included and can be used as either CheckInput() or check_input().
  • The function was originally created in 2016 and has been included in internal packages at Statistics Norway (SSB). Due to its widespread use, it was beneficial to include it in this CRAN package.

SSBtools 1.5.0

• Last version before any news