Message-ID: <442C1D5F.2000704@jhsph.edu>
Date: 2006-03-30T18:03:11Z
From: Roger D. Peng
Subject: compress defaults for save() and save.image()
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.64.0603301815180.23911@gannet.stats.ox.ac.uk>
Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
> I have changed the default in save() to compress = !ascii. This seems
> quite safe, as almost always save() is called explicitly and people will
> appreciate that it might take a little time to save large objects (and
> depending on your system, compression could even be faster).
I'm in favor of such a change. I almost always explicitly set `compress =
TRUE'. When I don't use it, it's because I want to be able to load large
objects quickly and I've noticed that loading uncompressed workspaces can be
quite a bit faster. Usually though, the savings in disk space is worth the
small penalty in loading time.
>
> Should we also change the default in save.image()? That is almost always
> used implicitly, via q(), a menu .... There are arguments that it is a
> more serious change so should not be done at the end of the release cycle,
> and also that large .RData files are something people would want to avoid.
I rarely use `save.image()' except to occasionally dump data during a long run
for crash recovery purposes. I don't think changing the defaults would make a
difference to me.
>
> BTW, the defaults can be changed via options() (see ?save): has anyone
> ever found that useful?
I was not even aware of this!
>
> And whilst I am feeling curious, has anyone used save(ascii = TRUE) in
> recent years?
>
I don't think I've ever used this feature.
-roger
--
Roger D. Peng | http://www.biostat.jhsph.edu/~rpeng/