[R] On-demand serialization + standardization of attributes

R-package/R/utils.R

@@ -349,21 +349,41 @@ xgb.createFolds <- function(y, k) {
 #' @name xgboost-deprecated
 NULL
 
-#' Do not use \code{\link[base]{saveRDS}} or \code{\link[base]{save}} for long-term archival of
-#' models. Instead, use \code{\link{xgb.save}} or \code{\link{xgb.save.raw}}.
+#' @title Model Serialization and Compatibility
+#' @description
 #'
-#' It is a common practice to use the built-in \code{\link[base]{saveRDS}} function (or
-#' \code{\link[base]{save}}) to persist R objects to the disk. While it is possible to persist
-#' \code{xgb.Booster} objects using \code{\link[base]{saveRDS}}, it is not advisable to do so if
-#' the model is to be accessed in the future. If you train a model with the current version of
-#' XGBoost and persist it with \code{\link[base]{saveRDS}}, the model is not guaranteed to be
-#' accessible in later releases of XGBoost. To ensure that your model can be accessed in future
-#' releases of XGBoost, use \code{\link{xgb.save}} or \code{\link{xgb.save.raw}} instead.
+#' When it comes to serializing XGBoost models, it's possible to use R serializers such as
+#' \link{save} or \link{saveRDS} to serialize an XGBoost R model, but XGBoost also provides
+#' its own serializers with perhaps better compability guarantees and which allow loading
+#' said models in other language bindings of XGBoost.
+#'
+#' Note however that an `xgb.Booster` object might also keep:\itemize{
+#' \item Additional model configuration attributes (accessible through \link{xgb.config}),
+#' which might be used during model fitting but are not used in e.g. `predict`, feature importance,
+#' or plotting methods.
+#' \item Additional R-specific attributes  - e.g. results of callbacks, such as evaluation logs,
+#' which are kept as a `data.table` object, accessible through `attributes(model)$evaluation_log`
+#' if present.
+#' }
+#'
+#' The first ones (configuration attributes) do not have the same compatibility guarantees as
+#' attributes that are set and accessed through \link{xgb.attributes} - that is, such attributes
+#' might be lost after loading the booster in a different XGBoost version, regardless of the
+#' serializer that was used. Note that these are saved when using \link{xgb.save}, but not when
+#' using \link{xgb.save.raw}.
+#'
+#' The second ones (R attributes) are not part of standard XGBoost model structure, and thus are
+#' not saved when using XGBoost's own serializers. These attributes are only used for informational
+#' purposes, such as keeping track of evaluation metrics as the model was fit, or saving the R
+#' call that produced the model, but are otherwise not used for prediction / importance / plotting / etc.
+#' These R attributes are only preserved when using R's own serializers.
 #'
 #' Note that XGBoost models in R starting from version `2.1.0` and onwards, and XGBoost models
 #' before version `2.1.0`; have a very different R object structure and are incompatible with
 #' each other. Hence, models that were saved with R serializers live `saveRDS` or `save` before
-#' version `2.1.0` will not work with latter `xgboost` versions and vice versa.
+#' version `2.1.0` will not work with latter `xgboost` versions and vice versa. Be aware that
+#' the structure of R model objects could in theory again in the future, so XGBoost's serializers
+#' should be preferred for very long-term storage.
 #'
 #' Furthermore, note that using the package `qs` for serialization will require version 0.26 or
 #' higher of said package, and will have the same compatibility restrictions as R serializers.
@@ -379,6 +399,11 @@ NULL
 #' The \code{\link{xgb.save.raw}} function is useful if you'd like to persist the XGBoost model
 #' as part of another R object.
 #'
+#' Use \link{saveRDS} if you require the R-specific attributes that a booster might have, such
+#' as evaluation logs, but note that future compatibility of such objects is outside XGBoost's
+#' control as it relies on R's serialization format (see e.g. the details section in
+#' \link{serialize} and \link{save} from base R).
+#'
 #' For more details and explanation about model persistence and archival, consult the page
 #' \url{https://xgboost.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorials/saving_model.html}.
 #'