9  The {erahumed} R package

As mentioned in Chapter 8, the software infrastructure of the ERAHUMED DSS is a library for the R programming language. The {erahumed} R package already has extensive documentation, which you can consult on its main website. In particular, this article provides a step-by-step guide to the package’s main functionalities, explaining how to run a simulation.

The rest of this chapter provides brief instructions on installing R and the {erahumed} package. If you are a proficient R user, you may confidently skip this part and simply follow the instructions in the package README to install {erahumed} and launch the Shiny app that provides its GUI.

The {erahumed} R package is open-source software and is hosted on GitHub. If you have a suggestion, want to report a bug, or need help, feel free to open a GitHub issue (you will need to sign in to GitHub with a personal account, which you can create for free). Pull requests with code improvements are also welcome!

9.1 Installing R

R is a free programming language and software environment widely adopted in the scientific community due to its powerful statistical capabilities and user-friendly interface. The {erahumed} package allows users to run simulations, prepare custom inputs, and explore outputs in detail—all from the R command line. Compared to the graphical user interface (GUI), using R directly provides greater flexibility and control over these operations.

To install R, visit the official R project website, where you will find detailed installation instructions for various operating systems. If you are new to R, there are many introductory resources available online, including the official R manual from the R Core Team. However, if your only goal is to run the ERAHUMED GUI on your local machine, you won’t need extensive knowledge of R. Simply installing R and running a few commands in the command line will be enough to get started.

9.2 Installing {erahumed}

Once R is installed, setting up the {erahumed} package requires just one or two commands in the R console. Detailed installation instructions are available here.

9.3 Using {erahumed}

For a quick start with {erahumed}—whether using the GUI or the R command line—refer to the usage guide. For a more in-depth walkthrough of the command-line workflow, see the main package vignette.

9.4 Getting Help

For support and troubleshooting, visit the help section.