[igraph] Need for advice

[Tom Backer Johnsen]

Gentlepersons.

I need some advice on handling a relatively large number of graphs in R.  What 
I have is 128 graphs representing eight groups (each with 8 to 11 members) at 
four times (repeats) where each subject was asked four types of questions.  In 
addition there are 20 groups which based on the same sample, each with from 3 
to 6 members, tested at four points in time with the same set of questions.  
So, there are 448 different graphs.

It was a fairly complex matter of entering the data from the original forms 
(the data are old, collected in 1967), so I have written a program in Lazarus 
(a Pascal GUI interface) which takes care of checking and anonymization, where 
the end product is (at present) a long text file containing the graphs in 
iGraph matrix format.  Other formats are possible, that is a minor matter.  
Each graph has a short descriptive name.

I would prefer to use parts of iGraph (possibly other SNA packages as well) to 
analyse the structures using the R / RStudio interface.  I am quite used to 
handle R, but have very limited experience with iGraph.

So:  Having to operate with 448 different files seems to be cumbersome, but of 
course possible.  I would however prefer to have all the graphs in one 
database/file.  I seem to remember having seen a reference to SQLite in this 
list, but are there better/simpler alternatives?  How does one extract single 
graphs from the database?  It would also be an advantage if the data base could 
be generated by the program written in Lazarus / Free Pascal and then accessed 
by R, but that transfer could be handled in several ways.

Any suggestions?  

I am using a Mac OS X computer, where something like Wine may be installed to 
be able to run Windows programs. 

Tom Backer Johnsen
Email: backer(at)psych.uib.no