An R Package to develop and manage Domain Specific Metadata Schemes (dmdSchemes)
The R Package
The R package dmdScheme is the base package for all dmdScheme schemes. The metadata scheme used by this package (dmdScheme) in itself is just a template and of no real applicability. It needs to be adjusted to actual needs and uploaded to the site dmdScheme repository so that it can be used.
The definition of the dmdScheme can be found at the dmdScheme repository. The R package provides the functionality to work in R with the scheme, i.e. to enter, validate and export the metadata.
Installation
The easiest way is to install from CRAN
install.packages("dmdScheme")The CRAN release might be behind the R-Universe (which reflects the master branch), but would be the conservative choice.
The recommended way to install the version which is the last one on the master branch from the R-Universe where the stable released will always be available:
# Enable universe by uzh-peg
options(repos = c(
uzhpeg = 'https://uzh-peg.r-universe.dev',
CRAN = 'https://cloud.r-project.org'))
# Install dmdScheme
install.packages('dmdScheme')If you are feling adventurous, want to live at the bleeding edge and can live with non-working features, you can install the dev branch. This branch is under development and not guranteed to be stable! Features and functionality can appear or be removed without prior notice:
## install the remotes package if not installed yet
if (require("remotes")) {
install.packages("remotes")
}
devtools::install_github("Exp-Micro-Ecol-Hub/dmdScheme", ref = "dev", build_opts = NULL)Other branches are not generally recommended for installation unless you are developing dmdScheme or need certain features available in other brances!
Loading the package
When you load the package, the definition of the scheme is downloaded from the dmdScheme repository and installed in a temporary scheme library in a temporary directory for usage in this R session only. As this scheme library is stored in a temporary directory, it will be deleted when you quit your R session and must be re-downloaded each time you start a new session and load the package. To create a permanent package library you have to create a cache in the user directory. To do this, run
and restart your R session. Now the definitions of the installed dmdSchemes will be installed in this user cache and be available permanently. For further info, see the documentation of the command cache() in the dmdScheme package.
Accompagnying documentation (vignettes)
- ‘R Package Introduction’ for a general description of the package
- ‘Howto Create a new scheme’ for a walk-through of creating a new scheme
- ‘Minimum requirements for metadatascheme based on dmdScheme’ for the minimum requirements of what a new scheme definition must contain.
Other Resources
Example scheme
For a workable example with data see the documentation of the emeScheme
Presentations
- July 2019: Metadata is sexy! by Rainer M. Krug
- September 2019: Live Demo by Rainer M. Krug
- September 2019, GFÖ, Münster: Metadata can be easy! by Rainer M. Krug & Owen L. Petchey
-
From Zero to Hero - Metadata Made Easy! by Rainer M. Krug
- December 2019, BES, Belfast: Metadata made easy by Rainer M. Krug & Owen L. Petchey
Outdated Resources (Just for historical reasons)
Presentations
- December 2018: The dmdScheme - an Introduction by Rainer M Krug
Please see the github repository or the dmdScheme Homepage for details.