We're happy to announce new releases of both rsyncrosim (v2.1.13) and pysyncrosim (v2.2.0). These updates bring meaningful changes for users working with raster data, running models on Linux, and managing SyncroSim libraries, along with a handful of bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements.

Here's a look at what's changed.

A cleaner approach to raster handling

The biggest change in both packages is how raster data is handled. We've removed the dependency on the R terra package in rsyncrosim, deprecating the datasheetSpatRaster function, and dropped the Raster class and rasterio dependency in pysyncrosim. In both cases, the replacement is straightforward: use the datasheet function (R) or the Scenario class datasheet method (Python) to retrieve raster file paths directly.

This simplifies the dependency footprint of both packages and gives you more flexibility in how you handle spatial outputs in your own workflows. If you're not sure how to make the switch, check out the forum post walking through the updated approach.

pysyncrosim support for Linux

Python users working in Linux environments will be pleased to know that pysyncrosim 2.2.0 adds official Linux support, opening the door to running SyncroSim workflows in HPC clusters, cloud environments, and containerized pipelines all from Python.

New library management tools in pysyncrosim

Two new functions make it easier to manage your SyncroSim libraries from Python:

• restore (Session class): Restore a SyncroSim library from a .ssimbak backup file. Useful for recovering previous library states or sharing reproducible snapshots of a project
• compact (Library class): Clean up and reduce the size of the underlying library database. If you're working with large or long-running libraries, this can help keep things tidy

Other improvements

Both packages also received a number of smaller updates. In rsyncrosim, this includes:

• The datasheet function's filterValue argument now accepts vector inputs for filtering on multiple values at once
• You can now overwrite a datasheet with an empty dataframe to clear existing data

In pysyncrosim, improvements include:

• The delete function is now more robust and supports deletion of folders
• Documentation fixes ensure all class methods and attributes link correctly to their own pages within the pysyncrosim documentation site

Get the latest versions

Find the latest releases on CRAN (rsyncrosim), PyPI (pysyncrosim), and conda-forge. For details on what's changed, see the rsyncrosim and pysyncrosim GitHub release notes. As always, if you run into any issues or have questions, the SyncroSim Community Forum is the best place to reach us.