Refresh cran-comments.md and rename release checklist for v2.7.1

cran-comments.md: list every fix in this bug-fix release, document the
two non-blocking NOTEs from R CMD check --as-cran (CRAN incoming
feasibility + future file timestamps), and enumerate the test
environments hit so far (local macOS + GH Actions matrix).

release-checklist-v2.7.0.md -> release-checklist-v2.7.1.md, fully
rewritten for this release. Tracks done-vs-pending across version
metadata, NEWS, docs, validation, and the still-pending win-builder /
revdep / CI matrix steps.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: ehrlinger

cran-comments.md

@@ -5,26 +5,55 @@ This is a bug-fix release. Key changes:
 * Fix `gg_partial_rfsrc()` for survival forests: `partial.rfsrc()` is now
   called with `partial.type = "surv"` (default; also accepts `"chf"` /
   `"mort"`). Without this, a zero-length comparison inside the underlying
-  C code aborted the call and left the survival-vignette partial-dep chunks
-  empty.
+  C code aborted the call and left the survival-vignette partial-dependence
+  chunks empty.
 * Fix `gg_partial_rfsrc()` for multiple `partial.time` values: yhat is
   reshaped from the matrix returned by `get.partial.plot.data()` into
   long form so each `(x, time)` pair is one row.
 * Improve `plot.gg_partial_rfsrc()` survival layout: predictor on the
   x-axis with one curve per time point coloured by `Time`, faceted by
-  variable name.
+  variable name. Group/colour by full-precision time so distinct horizons
+  that round to the same display value never collapse.
+* `plot.gg_partial_rfsrc()` y-axis label now adapts to `partial.type`
+  (`"Predicted Survival"` / `"Predicted CHF"` / `"Predicted Mortality"`).
+* `plot.gg_vimp()` legend de-duplication: `fill` and `color` aesthetics
+  share a "VIMP > 0" title so ggplot merges what was previously two
+  legends.
+* `ggrandomforests.news()` now reads `NEWS.md` (the canonical change log
+  R also exposes via `utils::news()`); removes the stale hand-maintained
+  `inst/NEWS`.
+* Replace U+2212 Unicode minus with ASCII `-` in `calc_roc.R` and
+  `plot.gg_roc.R` so the PDF manual builds under standard LaTeX.
 * New regression test file `test_plot_layer_data.R` uses
   `ggplot2::layer_data()` to verify each `plot.gg_*()` method renders
   non-empty layers across all forest families, catching empty-figure
   regressions without visual inspection.
 
 ## R CMD check results
-0 errors | 0 warnings | 0 notes
+
+`R CMD check --as-cran` on local R 4.5.3 (macOS aarch64): 0 errors |
+0 warnings | 2 NOTEs.
+
+The 2 NOTEs are both informational and not actionable for submission:
+
+* `checking CRAN incoming feasibility ... NOTE` — the standard maintainer
+  / tarball-size NOTE that always appears under `--as-cran`.
+* `checking for future file timestamps ... NOTE` — "unable to verify
+  current time", a local NTP-reachability NOTE that does not appear on
+  CRAN's own check infrastructure.
+
+`urlchecker::url_check()` is clean (0 broken URLs across DESCRIPTION, Rd
+files, NEWS.md, README.md, and vignettes).
 
 ## Test environments
-* local R installation (R 4.5, macOS)
-* GitHub Actions: ubuntu-latest (R devel)
-* GitHub Actions: ubuntu-latest (R release)
-* GitHub Actions: ubuntu-latest (R oldrel-1)
-* GitHub Actions: windows-latest (R release)
-* GitHub Actions: macos-latest (R release)
+
+* local: R 4.5.3 on macOS Tahoe 26.4.1 (aarch64-apple-darwin20)
+* GitHub Actions matrix on commit 570aad7:
+  * ubuntu-latest (R-devel, R-release, R-oldrel-1)
+  * windows-latest (R-release)
+  * macos-latest (R-release)
+* `devtools::check_win_devel()` and `check_win_release()` — pending,
+  results to be appended below before submission.
+* `revdepcheck::revdep_check()` — ggRandomForests has no reverse
+  dependencies on CRAN; running anyway for completeness, results to be
+  appended below.

release-checklist-v2.7.0.md

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+# Release Checklist: ggRandomForests v2.7.1
+**Date:** 2026-04-27 | **Maintainer:** John Ehrlinger <john.ehrlinger@gmail.com>
+
+---
+
+## What Changed Since 2.7.0
+
+Bug-fix release. See `NEWS.md` for the user-facing change log.
+
+| Area | Fix |
+|------|-----|
+| `gg_partial_rfsrc.R` | Pass `partial.type = "surv"` (default) to `partial.rfsrc()` for survival forests; without it the C-level prediction routine aborted on a zero-length comparison and the survival vignette's partial-dependence chunks rendered empty. New `partial.type` argument accepts `"surv"` / `"chf"` / `"mort"`. |
+| `gg_partial_rfsrc.R` | Reshape multi-`partial.time` results to long form so each `(x, time)` pair is one row (was crashing on the `time` column assignment when yhat came back as a matrix). |
+| `plot.gg_partial.R` | Survival layout: predictor on x-axis, one curve per time point coloured by `Time`. Group/colour by full-precision time so distinct horizons that round to the same display value never collapse. Y-axis label adapts to `partial.type`. |
+| `plot.gg_vimp.R` | Merge the duplicate "VIMP > 0" / "positive" legends by sharing a title across both `fill` and `color` aesthetics. |
+| `R/ggrandomforests.news.R` | Read `NEWS.md` (the canonical change log) instead of the legacy hand-maintained `inst/NEWS`, which had silently drifted to v2.4.0 across three releases. `inst/NEWS` removed. |
+| `R/calc_roc.R`, `R/plot.gg_roc.R` | Replace U+2212 Unicode minus with ASCII `-` so the PDF manual builds under standard LaTeX (CRAN's incoming pipeline). |
+| `tests/testthat/test_plot_layer_data.R` | New regression suite using `ggplot2::layer_data()` to verify each `plot.gg_*()` method renders non-empty layers across all forest families; locks in the `partial.type` y-label dispatch and the merged-legend behaviour. |
+
+---
+
+## Pre-Release Checklist
+
+### 1. Version & Metadata
+- [x] Bump `Version:` in `DESCRIPTION` from `2.7.0.9001` → `2.7.1`
+- [x] Update `Date:` in `DESCRIPTION` to `2026-04-27`
+- [x] Confirm `RoxygenNote:` matches the installed roxygen2 version (`roxygen2::roxygenise()` ran clean)
+
+### 2. NEWS.md
+- [x] Add `ggRandomForests v2.7.1` section at the top of `NEWS.md`
+- [x] Keep entries user-facing (each bullet says **what was wrong** and **what changed**)
+
+### 3. Documentation
+- [x] `roxygen2::roxygenise(".")` ran with zero warnings; all Rd files regenerate cleanly
+- [x] Spot-checked the new `plot.gg_partial_rfsrc` and `gg_partial_rfsrc` help pages
+
+### 4. Test Suite
+- [x] Full local testthat run: 0 failures / 0 errors / 0 warnings
+- [x] New `test_plot_layer_data.R` covers every `plot.gg_*()` method
+- [x] New `plot.gg_vimp` legend test uses synthetic data (deterministic across CI platforms)
+
+### 5. Validation
+- [x] `R CMD check --as-cran` on macOS R 4.5.3: **0 errors | 0 warnings | 2 NOTEs** (incoming-feasibility + future-timestamps; both informational, neither actionable)
+- [x] `urlchecker::url_check()`: 0 broken URLs
+- [x] `spelling::spell_check_package()`: only domain-jargon items (rfsrc, VIMP, Ishwaran, etc.); no genuine typos
+- [ ] `devtools::check_win_devel()` and `check_win_release()` — submit before tagging
+- [ ] `revdepcheck::revdep_check()` — confirm 0 reverse deps still pass (ggRandomForests has none on CRAN, but run for completeness)
+- [ ] All GitHub Actions matrix jobs green on the head commit (R-CMD-check standard / release / devel + windows + macos + lint)
+
+### 6. CRAN comments
+- [x] Update `cran-comments.md` with the actual environments tested and the disposition of NOTEs
+
+### 7. Tag & Submit
+- [ ] `git tag -a v2.7.1 -m "v2.7.1: bug-fix release"` and `git push origin v2.7.1`
+- [ ] Upload tarball at https://cran.r-project.org/submit.html (or `devtools::submit_cran()`)
+- [ ] Reply to CRAN's confirmation email within 24 h
+
+### 8. After Acceptance
+- [ ] Bump `DESCRIPTION` to `2.7.1.9000` and add a `v2.7.2 (in development)` placeholder at the top of `NEWS.md`
+- [ ] `pkgdown` site rebuild fires automatically on tag push (existing GH Action) — verify https://ehrlinger.github.io/ggRandomForests/ shows v2.7.1 in the navbar