© Fisheries and Oceans Canada (2008-2023)
The R package PBSadmb gives complete R support to the external program AD Model Builder (ADMB) released into the public domain in 2009. The program offers users a remarkably efficient tool for estimating parameters and their uncertainty, based on complex nonlinear statistical models.
In a standard ADMB installation, users would interact with the program via a DOS command shell (in Windows) or a bash shell (in Linux or Mac OS X). The package PBSadmb makes it possible to interact entirely from an R console, as a common interface for all operating systems. A single R script can encapsulate commands to ADMB, as well as all analyses that follow. The package includes protocols for writing code to make the integration between R and ADMB almost seamless.
PBSadmb also provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that facilitates the steps required for a complete ADMB analysis. Both new and experienced users can use the GUI for tutorial and educational purposes.
You can obtain PBSadmb from the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN). Always use the current version of PBSadmb with the most recent version of PBSmodelling, another package available from CRAN.
PBSadmb represents just one of a series of R packages developed at the Pacific Biological Station (PBS) in Nanaimo, British Columbia. A more advanced version of PBSadmb might be available at pbs-software on GitHub. Any evolving package (Windows binary and source tarball) is built after using CRAN's rigorous R CMD check --as-cran routine (on a Windows 7 64-bit system) and posted to Google Drive. Most of the time, the revision on GitHub can be built in R using devtools::install_github("pbs-software/pbs-admb/PBSadmb"); however, not every revision has been checked for CRAN worthiness.
As with any freely available product, there is no warranty or promise that PBSadmb will perform adequately for all circumstances. Additionally, coding errors are possible, and users should contact the package maintainer if bugs are detected.
Maintainer: Rowan Haigh
