compact_list() hangs for large list elements

[strengejacke]

Fixes #1196

[gemini-code-assist]

Code Review

This pull request updates the insight package to version 1.5.1.1 and refactors the compact_list function to improve performance on large, nested lists by replacing sapply with vapply and introducing a recursive helper. The review identifies a critical bug where the internal helper .is_null_string is referenced incorrectly in a rapply call, which would lead to runtime errors. Other feedback includes a suggestion to maintain consistent capitalization in the NEWS.md file and a request to clarify a misleading code comment.

[strengejacke]

@gemini-code-assist review

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR addresses a hang in compact_list() when handling large (notably nested) list elements, which can cause downstream functions like performance::check_model() to stall on large model objects.

Changes:

• Refactors compact_list() to use a new .is_null_string() helper and vapply() for more predictable/efficient evaluation.
• Adds a depth-based guard intended to avoid expensive as.character() calls on nested lists.
• Adds tests and documentation clarifying that compact_list() does not recursively compact deeper list levels by default, plus a NEWS entry and version bump.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 4 out of 5 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
R/utils_compact.R	Refactors compacting logic and introduces helpers to avoid expensive character coercion on nested lists.
tests/testthat/test-compact-list.R	Adds regression tests for behavior with deeper nested lists.
man/compact_list.Rd	Documents non-recursive behavior for deeper list levels and adds an example.
NEWS.md	Notes a performance improvement for compact_list() on very large nested lists.
DESCRIPTION	Bumps package version.

Files not reviewed (1)

• man/compact_list.Rd: Language not supported

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[gemini-code-assist]

Code Review

This pull request enhances the performance of compact_list and compact_character by utilizing vapply and implementing a depth-limited check to avoid costly character coercion on large nested lists. Review feedback identifies opportunities to further optimize the .is_null_string helper by explicitly excluding data frames and removing redundant unlist calls. Additionally, the .large_list_depth function should be refactored to prevent warnings on empty lists and support early termination for efficiency.