Floating figures creating breaks in code chunks in PDF

[rkjulian]

I have been using the default setting for figure floating according to the R Markdown Cookbook (6.5 Control the placement of figures | R Markdown Cookbook) but sometimes figures float forward to the top of the next page creating a break in a code chunk which makes the whole thing hard to read - especially since the figure that floated was from one example, and lands in the middle of the next example.

I have added the lines:

\usepackage{float}
\floatplacement{figure}{H}

to my preample.tex, but as predicted in section 6.5.2, this stops figures from floating at all and is not exactly right either.

All I really want is for code chunks to not be broken by figures - being broken by page breaks seems OK, but when a figure floats to the top of a page the break seems really off.

Looking at the various posts on this, figure floating seems to be a real sticking point, but I haven't found any answers related to the special nature of code chunks.

Any suggestions on how to prevent code chunks from being split by floating figures?

[HanOostdijk]

You have difficulties placing the figures.
Is it an idea placing the code chunks by manually inserting \newpage statements before starting a code chunk?
Or splitting long code chunks in two or more smaller ones that maybe can be placed on pages in an easier way?
I am aware that this is not the automated way you are probably looking for.

A small example with the type of code and plots you are considering could be helpful for forum readers.

[rkjulian]

I'm trying not to go too crazy with this since I'm not done writing and I'm not sure where things will be at the end. But two things seemed to help:

The suggestion to put the \newpage statement right before the code chunk moved the entire chunk below the floated figure which is perfect! Problem basically solved. I also tried the settings from the R Markdown Cookbook:

\renewcommand{\topfraction}{.85}
\renewcommand{\bottomfraction}{.7}
\renewcommand{\textfraction}{.15}
\renewcommand{\floatpagefraction}{.66}
\setcounter{topnumber}{3}
\setcounter{bottomnumber}{3}
\setcounter{totalnumber}{4}

Which also did a much better job of floating the figures in general. I think between the new settings and the ability to place specific code chunks when things get weird, I'll get a PDF that I can work with.

I want to keep working in R Markdown rather than switching to LaTex. Sprinkling a few commands into the .Rmd file is a good solution for me.

Thanks for the help!