Tom Chr Backer Johnsen wrote: > I can at best say that this question is related to R. > > What has become more and more obvious to me after I started using R > about two years ago is that I have collected a large number of data > files, scripts, and workspaces (.Rdata files) in several catalogs on my > computer. It is also obvious that my memory is not up to the task of > keeping track of everything. Of course, this is not simply an R thing, > it also applies to other kinds of documents of various kinds. > > Perhaps what is needed is some type of computerized "Research notebook", > and I wonder if any of the readers of list have had this problem and > have a suggestion in respect to a solution. Two possibilities I have > been sniffing at is "Instant Recall" (USD 99) and "AskSam" (much more). > Which others may be useful? >
I use a thing called 'Plain Text File'... Basically I keep a file called 'NOTES.txt' in each project directory I work in and keep it updated as I work. I keep note of where data comes from, what I do to it, what various functions do and so on. Then I can use Unix command-line tools such as 'grep' and 'find' to search them. I wouldn't dream of using a proprietary tool with a proprietary and closed format for this kind of thing EVER. If you want something more sophisticated than my Plain Text File solution then keep a 'NOTES.tex' file then you can include equations and graphics. Plus it's then trivial to cut things out of it into your final reports and papers. Having a simple plain text file makes it easy to use, and if it's not easy you won't use it. If you have to start up a special app to note what you're doing then half the time you won't use it when you really should. Since I've always got emacs open when I'm R-ing, it's trivially simple to open NOTES.txt and add my comments. Barry ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list 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.
