R Enhanced Viewer (REViewer)

A VS Code / Cursor extension for enhanced data frame viewing, designed specifically for statistical programmers in the pharmaceutical industry.

Features

• Enhanced Data Viewing - View R data frames in a modern spreadsheet-like interface
• REView() Function - Type REView(df) in R console to instantly view data
• Global Search - Press Ctrl+F / Cmd+F to search across all columns
• Variable Selector - Quickly browse and select variables with type indicators and search functionality
• Multi-Column Sorting - Click column headers to sort; hold Shift to add secondary sort columns
• Quick Filter - Press E to filter; Shift+E to add AND conditions; Ctrl/Cmd+click multi-select + I for IN filter (OR conditions)
• Frequency Tables - Press F on any cell to view frequency distribution
• Summary Statistics - Press M on numeric columns to view mean, median, min, max, and more
• Copy Support - Double-click cells to copy values
• Keyboard Navigation - Use arrow keys to navigate cells; Home/End for first/last row
• Jump to Row - Press Ctrl+G / Cmd+G to jump to a specific row number
• Clear Filters - Press Escape to clear all filters and close panels

Quick Start

Installation

1. Open VS Code / Cursor
2. Go to Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X / Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "R Enhanced Viewer" or "REViewer"
4. Click Install

Usage

Prerequisites: Install R Extension for Visual Studio Code for the best experience.

Steps:

1. Start R terminal: Cmd+Shift+P → "R: Create R Terminal"
2. Load your data in R (e.g., data("mtcars") or load your own dataset)
3. View data: Cmd+Shift+P → "REViewer: View Data Frame" → Enter variable name

Using REView() Function:

After running "REViewer: View Data Frame" once, the REView() function becomes available in your R session:

# View any data frame
REView(mtcars)

# Works with pipes too!
library(dplyr)
iris %>% filter(Species == "setosa") %>% REView()

Posit Workbench / Positron Users

For users running R on Posit Workbench (remote server), each user needs a unique port to avoid conflicts:

Step 1: Source REView and check your port

source("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chengwei-dev/r-enhanced-viewer/main/r-package/REView_quick.R")
REView_port()  # Shows your unique port (e.g., 8742)

Step 2: Configure the same port in Positron

1. Open Settings (Cmd+, or Ctrl+,)
2. Search for reviewer.server.port
3. Set it to your assigned port number

Step 3: Set up port forwarding (if needed)

• Positron typically handles this automatically
• For manual setup: forward server port to your local machine

Step 4: Use REView

REView(mtcars)  # Data appears in YOUR Positron window

Pharma Industry Features

This extension is designed with pharmaceutical industry needs in mind:

• SAS-like Labels - Displays variable labels when available
• Large Dataset Support - Handles ADaM datasets with 1M+ rows
• Data Types - Clear indication of R data types (numeric, character, factor, etc.)
• Missing Values - NA values are clearly highlighted
• CDISC Ready - Optimized for SDTM/ADaM data structures

Security & Compliance

🔒 Data Privacy

REViewer is designed with pharmaceutical industry data security requirements in mind:

🏥 Pharmaceutical Industry Compliance

🔧 Technical Security Details

• Localhost Only: HTTP server binds exclusively to 127.0.0.1 (localhost) - external network cannot access
• Per-User Port Isolation: Each user gets a unique port based on their username, preventing data cross-contamination on shared servers
• Webview Sandbox: VS Code Webview runs in isolated browser environment with no filesystem or network access
• No Persistent Storage: Data is released from memory when viewer is closed
• Open Source: Full source code available for security audits

🏢 Enterprise Deployment

• Install directly from VS Code Extensions panel
• Extension reviewed by Microsoft
• No external network requests - suitable for secure environments

License

MIT

Acknowledgments

• Built for statistical programmers transitioning from SAS to R
• Thanks to the R extension team for their work on R support in VS Code