[R] R and Data Storage

[Tobias Verbeke]

rab45+ at pitt.edu wrote:

>Where I work a lot of people end up using Excel spreadsheets for storing
>data. This has limitations and maybe some less than obvious problems. I'd
>like to recommend a uniform way for storing and archiving data collected
>in the department. Most of the data could be stored in simple csv type
>files but it would be nice to have something that stores more information
>about the variables and units. netcdf seems like overkill (and not easy
>for casual users). Same for postgres and mysql databases. Could someone
>recommend some system for storing relatively small data sets (50-100
>variables, <1000 records) that would be reliable, safe, and easy for
>people to view and edit their data that works nicely with R and is open
>source? Am I asking for the moon?
>  
>
Would the StatDataML format meet your needs ?
It is open, XML-based, stores variable
types and works nicely with R (as R wizards designed
StatDataML and the corresponding R package).

See
http://cran.r-project.org/src/contrib/Descriptions/StatDataML.html
or
http://www.omegahat.org/StatDataML/

HTH,
Tobias