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Build a key from a spreadsheet

Source: R/spreadsheet.R
keyFromSpreadsheet.Rd

Reads a key written in a spreadsheet and saved as CSV (in Excel or Google Sheets: File > Save as / Download > CSV). Each row is one lead:

Usage

keyFromSpreadsheet(
  file,
  photos = NULL,
  desc = NA,
  meta = NULL,
  checkNames = FALSE
)

Arguments

file

Path of the CSV file (UTF-8).

photos

Folder holding the photos named in the Photo column; by default the folder the CSV file is in.

desc

Title of the key.

meta

Optional key/value metadata data frame (e.g. a citation row); the photos are added to it.

checkNames

If TRUE, check the species names against GBIF with checkNames() and warn, by spreadsheet row, about names that are misspelled, outdated synonyms or unknown. Needs an internet connection.

Value

A dimoose key.

Details

  • Couplet: the couplet's number.

  • Description: what the lead says ("Leaves compound.").

  • Goes to: the couplet this lead leads to, or blank when the lead ends in a species.

  • Species: the result, for leads that end the key. Write it as "Common name (Genus species)" to have keyDiagram() set the scientific name in italics.

  • Choice (optional): the lead's letter; by default the leads of each couplet are lettered a, b, c in the order they appear.

  • Question (optional): what the couplet asks ("Leaf type?"), shown by keyDiagram() and exportWizard().

  • Photo (optional): file names of photos to show with the lead, separated by commas or semicolons; the extension may be left out.

Column names are matched loosely (case, spaces and punctuation do not matter) and dimoose's own names work too: Statement, Character, Next, Taxon and Image. Blank rows are skipped. The photos are embedded in the key, so the wizard and the diagram work offline.

The Montana key that comes with dimoose is a ready-made example to copy: system.file("extdata", "montana", "montana-key.csv", package = "dimoose"), with its photos in the same folder.

See also

keyFromLeads() to build a key from a data frame, keyDiagram() and exportWizard() to show it.

Examples

csv <- system.file("extdata", "montana", "montana-key.csv", package = "dimoose")
k <- keyFromSpreadsheet(csv, desc = "Native broadleaf trees of Montana")
k
#> <dimoose key> Native broadleaf trees of Montana
#>   10 couplets, 20 leads, 11 taxa, up to 7 steps deep
keyDiagram(k, tempfile(fileext = ".svg"))