# Strategies for programmatic name cleaning

#### Scott Chamberlain

#### 2020-06-08

`taxize` offers interactive prompts when using `get_*()` functions (e.g., `get_tsn()`). These prompts make it easy in interactive use to select choices when there are more than one match found.

However, to make your code reproducible you don’t want interactive prompts.

This vignette covers some options for programmatic name cleaning.

    library("taxize")

## get_* functions

When using `get_*()` functions programatically, you have a few options.

### rows parameter

Normally, if you get more than one result, you get a prompt asking you to select which taxon you want.

    get_tsn("Quercus b")
    #>       tsn                       target             commonnames    nameusage
    #> 1   19298             Quercus beebiana                         not accepted
    #> 2  507263       Quercus berberidifolia               scrub oak     accepted
    #> 3   19300              Quercus bicolor         swamp white oak     accepted
    #> 4   19303             Quercus borealis                         not accepted
    #> 5  195131 Quercus borealis var. maxima                         not accepted
    #> 6  195166            Quercus boyntonii Boynton's sand post oak     accepted
    #> 7  506533              Quercus brantii             Brant's oak     accepted
    #> 8  195150            Quercus breviloba                         not accepted
    #> 9  195099              Quercus breweri                         not accepted
    #> 10 195168             Quercus buckleyi               Texas oak     accepted
    #>
    #> More than one TSN found for taxon 'Quercus b'!
    #>
    #>             Enter rownumber of taxon (other inputs will return 'NA'):
    #>
    #> 1:

Instead, we can use the rows parameter to specify which records we want by number only (not by a name itself). Here, we want the first 3 records:

    get_tsn('Quercus b', rows = 1:3)
    #>     tsn           target     commonnames    nameusage
    #> 1 19298 Quercus beebiana                 not accepted
    #> 2 19300  Quercus bicolor swamp white oak     accepted
    #> 3 19303 Quercus borealis                 not accepted
    #>
    #> More than one TSN found for taxon 'Quercus b'!
    #>
    #>             Enter rownumber of taxon (other inputs will return 'NA'):
    #>
    #> 1:

However, you still get a prompt as there is more than one result.

Thus, for full programmatic usage, you can specify a single row, if you happen to know which one you want:

    get_tsn('Quercus b', rows = 3)
    #> ══  1 queries  ═══════════════
    #> ✔  Found:  Quercus b
    #> ══  Results  ═════════════════
    #>
    #> ● Total: 1
    #> ● Found: 1
    #> ● Not Found: 0
    #> [1] "19303"
    #> attr(,"class")
    #> [1] "tsn"
    #> attr(,"match")
    #> [1] "found"
    #> attr(,"multiple_matches")
    #> [1] TRUE
    #> attr(,"pattern_match")
    #> [1] FALSE
    #> attr(,"uri")
    #> [1] "https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=19303"

In reality it is unlikely you’ll know which row you want, unless perhaps you just want one result from each query, regardless of what it is.

### underscore methods

A better fit for programmatic use are underscore methods. Each `get_*()` function has a sister method with and trailing underscore, e.g., `get_tsn()` and `get_tsn_()`.

    get_tsn_("Quercus b")
    #> $`Quercus b`
    #> # A tibble: 5 x 4
    #>   tsn    scientificName         commonNames                           nameUsage
    #>   <chr>  <chr>                  <chr>                                 <chr>
    #> 1 19300  Quercus bicolor        swamp white oak,chêne bicolore        accepted
    #> 2 195166 Quercus boyntonii      Boynton's sand post oak,Boynton's oak accepted
    #> 3 195168 Quercus buckleyi       Texas oak,Buckley's oak               accepted
    #> 4 506533 Quercus brantii        Brant's oak                           accepted
    #> 5 507263 Quercus berberidifolia scrub oak                             accepted

The result is a single data.frame for each taxon queried, which can be processed downstream with whatever logic is required in your workflow.

You can also combine `rows` parameter with underscore functions, as a single number of a range of numbers:

    get_tsn_("Quercus b", rows = 1)
    #> $`Quercus b`
    #> # A tibble: 1 x 4
    #>   tsn   scientificName  commonNames                    nameUsage
    #>   <chr> <chr>           <chr>                          <chr>
    #> 1 19300 Quercus bicolor swamp white oak,chêne bicolore accepted

    get_tsn_("Quercus b", rows = 1:2)
    #> $`Quercus b`
    #> # A tibble: 2 x 4
    #>   tsn    scientificName    commonNames                           nameUsage
    #>   <chr>  <chr>             <chr>                                 <chr>
    #> 1 19300  Quercus bicolor   swamp white oak,chêne bicolore        accepted
    #> 2 195166 Quercus boyntonii Boynton's sand post oak,Boynton's oak accepted

## as.* methods

All `get_*()` functions have associated `as.*()` functions (e.g., `get_tsn()` and `as.tsn()`).

Many `taxize` functions use taxonomic identifier classes (S3 objects) that are the output of `get_*()` functions. `as.*()` methods make it easy to make the required S3 taxonomic identifier classes if you already know the identifier. For example:

Already a tsn, returns the same

    as.tsn(get_tsn("Quercus douglasii"))
    #> ══  1 queries  ═══════════════
    #> ✔  Found:  Quercus douglasii
    #> ══  Results  ═════════════════
    #>
    #> ● Total: 1
    #> ● Found: 1
    #> ● Not Found: 0
    #> [1] "19322"
    #> attr(,"class")
    #> [1] "tsn"
    #> attr(,"match")
    #> [1] "found"
    #> attr(,"multiple_matches")
    #> [1] FALSE
    #> attr(,"pattern_match")
    #> [1] FALSE
    #> attr(,"uri")
    #> [1] "https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=19322"

numeric

    as.tsn(c(19322, 129313, 506198))
    #> [1] "19322"  "129313" "506198"
    #> attr(,"class")
    #> [1] "tsn"
    #> attr(,"match")
    #> [1] "found" "found" "found"
    #> attr(,"multiple_matches")
    #> [1] FALSE FALSE FALSE
    #> attr(,"pattern_match")
    #> [1] FALSE FALSE FALSE
    #> attr(,"uri")
    #> [1] "https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=19322"
    #> [2] "https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=129313"
    #> [3] "https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=506198"

And you can do the same for character, or list inputs - depending on the data source.

The above `as.tsn()` examples have the parameter `check = TRUE`, meaning we ping the data source web service to make sure the identifier exists. You can skip that check if you like by setting `check = FALSE`, and the result is returned much faster:

    as.tsn(c("19322","129313","506198"), check = FALSE)
    #> [1] "19322"  "129313" "506198"
    #> attr(,"class")
    #> [1] "tsn"
    #> attr(,"match")
    #> [1] "found" "found" "found"
    #> attr(,"multiple_matches")
    #> [1] FALSE FALSE FALSE
    #> attr(,"pattern_match")
    #> [1] FALSE FALSE FALSE
    #> attr(,"uri")
    #> [1] "https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=19322"
    #> [2] "https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=129313"
    #> [3] "https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=506198"

With the output of `as.*()` methods, you can then proceed with other `taxize` functions.

## gnr_resolve

Some functions in `taxize` are meant specifically for name cleaning. One of those is `gnr_resolve()`.

`gnr_resolve()` doesn’t provide prompts as do `get_*()` functions, but instead return data.frame’s. So we don’t face the same problem, and can use `gnr_resolve()` in a programmatic workflow straight away.

    spp <- names_list(rank = "species", size = 10)
    gnr_resolve(spp, preferred_data_sources = 11)
    #> # A tibble: 14 x 5
    #>    user_supplied_na… submitted_name   matched_name        data_source_tit… score
    #>  * <chr>             <chr>            <chr>               <chr>            <dbl>
    #>  1 Prestonia seeman… Prestonia seema… Prestonia seemanni… GBIF Backbone T… 0.988
    #>  2 Stephanodaphne p… Stephanodaphne … Stephanodaphne per… GBIF Backbone T… 0.988
    #>  3 Eriogonum compos… Eriogonum compo… Eriogonum composit… GBIF Backbone T… 0.988
    #>  4 Eriogonum compos… Eriogonum compo… Eriogonum composit… GBIF Backbone T… 0.988
    #>  5 Acaulon muticum   Acaulon muticum  Acaulon muticum (H… GBIF Backbone T… 0.988
    #>  6 Acaulon muticum   Acaulon muticum  Acaulon muticum C.… GBIF Backbone T… 0.988
    #>  7 Ranunculus subte… Ranunculus subt… Ranunculus subtect… GBIF Backbone T… 0.988
    #>  8 Leucopogon pogon… Leucopogon pogo… Leucopogon pogonoc… GBIF Backbone T… 0.988
    #>  9 Leucopogon pogon… Leucopogon pogo… Leucopogon pogonoc… GBIF Backbone T… 0.988
    #> 10 Calanthe obrenif… Calanthe obreni… Calanthe obrenifor… GBIF Backbone T… 0.988
    #> 11 Palaquium pierrei Palaquium pierr… Palaquium pierrei … GBIF Backbone T… 0.988
    #> 12 Lithospermum cus… Lithospermum cu… Lithospermum cuspi… GBIF Backbone T… 0.988
    #> 13 Evodia lucida     Evodia lucida    Euodia lucida (Miq… GBIF Backbone T… 0.75
    #> 14 Evodia lucida     Evodia lucida    Euodia lucida (A.G… GBIF Backbone T… 0.75

## Other functions

Some other functions in `taxize` use `get_*()` functions internally (e.g., `classification()`), but you can can generally pass on parameters to the `get_*()` functions internally.

## Feedback?

Let us know if you have ideas for better ways to do programmatic name cleaning at https://github.com/ropensci/taxize/issues or https://discuss.ropensci.org/ !