R/last_update.R

In hgnc: Download and Import the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee ('HGNC') Data Set into R

#' Last update of HGNC data set
#'
#' This function returns the date of the most recent update of the HGNC data
#' set.
#'
#' @return A POSIXct date-time object.
#' @examples
#' try(last_update())
#' @export
last_update <- function() {

  # Endpoint: https://www.genenames.org/cgi-bin/statistics/symbol-reports-by-chromosome
  # This is an endpoint I found
  # https://www.genenames.org/download/statistics-and-files/ to be calling
  # behind the scenes that contains that last update date.
  #
  # The last update is provided
  # https://www.genenames.org/download/statistics-and-files/ but is dynamically
  # generated and only accessible through the browser, or using alternative
  # methods (e.g. V8).
  #
  # The approach taken also gets the job done and is simpler. We just have to be
  # vigilant in case this endpoint no longer works.
  #
  url <- 'https://www.genenames.org/cgi-bin/statistics/symbol-reports-by-chromosome'
  response <- httr::GET(url)
  content <- httr::content(response, as = 'text')
  datetime <- lubridate::parse_date_time(jsonlite::parse_json(content)$date, 'dmy HMS')

  return(datetime)
}