NEWS.md

In RDelta: Parse and Query DELTA-Format Taxonomic Descriptions

DeltaR 0.1.0

New Features

• Initial CRAN release
• Full support for DELTA character list files
• Full support for DELTA item description files
• Support for DELTA specifications files
• Rcpp-based C++ integration for high performance
• Comprehensive R interface with data frames and lists
• Search and matching functionality for taxonomic identification

Data Import

• load_delta() - Load DELTA files into R
• Support for both required (chars, items) and optional (specs) files

Data Exploration

• characters_df() - View character definitions as data frame
• items_df() - View item information as data frame
• get_item() - Retrieve complete item data

Search and Analysis

• find_matching_items() - Find items matching character values
• item_matches() - Test if an item matches specific values

Utility Functions

• parse_attribute() - Parse DELTA attribute strings
• strip_comments() - Remove DELTA comments
• delta_char_types() - Get character type constants

Example Data

• Viola (Viola spp.) dataset
• Grass (Poaceae) dataset

Acknowledgements

Based on the tDelta C++ library by Denis Ziegler, part of the Free DELTA project.

RDelta documentation built on Oct. 28, 2026, 5:12 p.m.