Here is a list of common issues you might run into while trying to reproduce code. We hope this list provides you with an easy solution so you can move on swiftly to the next question. In case you are unsure or have any further questions, get in contact with the organiser team.
I can’t find my Reprothon ID
If you can’t find it ask one of the organisers and they’ll be able to find it for you.
Question Generator does not work
The Question Generator might not give you a question if you are using a VPN connection. Disabling the VPN might work.
The Stack Overflow question and answer do not specify the library used
If neither the question nor the answer specify any library they might just use base R functions. In this case, write base R in libraries used. Otherwise you might find the library by searching functions at https://www.rdocumentation.org/.
The question link leads you to a question marked as “duplicate question”
In that case go to the link suggested and reproduce the code of that question. Don’t forget to copy and paste the link of the new question into the google form.
What if half of the answer works and the other half does not?
Make a note in the comments section of the Google form which packages the question/answer used and which packages and functions produce an error.
What to do when the accepted answer doesn’t provide code, while another answer provides valid code?
If you believe you have identified an alternative answer which provides valid code at the time it was posted, you can use this instead of the accepted answer. If unsure, ask one of the organisers or tick “unsure” in the google form.
What if the post did not try to provide reproducible code?
If the question or answer does not provide reproducible code by for instance not giving code that produces the data, click “No reproducible example provided” in the google form.
What if the post provides only a screenshot of the data?
If you feel like you can easily create the data that is used in the question/answer then go ahead. If you find yourself struggling then click “No reproducible example provided” in the google form.
What if a dataset is used but is not explicitly specified? E.g. if a datatset (movies) comes from an uninstalled package (“ggplot2movies”)
Like the previous question, it’s up to you how much time you put into testing the code. There are a few datasets that are commonly used in accepted answers to demonstrate how the code works if data was not provided in the original question. Some example datasets are mtcars and iris that come in-built with R, and movies (from the package ggplot2movies). If there is a way for you to replicate the accepted answer solution without the dataset provided then you can still fill in the answer sheet, alternatively enter “No reproducible example provided” in the google form before moving on to the next StackOverflow question.
What if it’s not a package or function causing an error? The original StackOverflow question does not need to be about an error in the author’s R code: What is relevant for the Reprothon is that the accepted answer provides a sample of code that was deemed to be working at the time it was posted, so we can check if it still works now.
What if I get the error message Error in [X] : could not find function “[Y]”
This could be that the code omitted loading the necessary package (in this case, see “The Stack Overflow question and answer do not specify the library used above”), or that the function is no longer part of the package. The latter case (only) is a failure to reproduce.