get_latest_reptile_download: Get Latest Reptile Database Download Link

In reptiledb.data: Reptile Database Data

Get Latest Reptile Database Download Link

Description

This function retrieves the most recent download link for reptile database files from the Reptile Database website. It searches for files from the current year first, and if none are found, searches for files from the previous year.

Usage

get_latest_reptile_download(
  base_url = "http://www.reptile-database.org/data/",
  current_year = as.numeric(format(Sys.Date(), "%Y")),
  file_types = c("xls", "xlsx", "zip"),
  return_info = FALSE
)

Arguments

base_url	Character string. The base URL of the reptile database data page. Default is "http://www.reptile-database.org/data/".
current_year	Numeric. The current year to search for files. Default is the current system year.
file_types	Character vector. File extensions to search for. Default is c("xls", "xlsx", "zip").
return_info	Logical. If TRUE, returns a list with detailed information about the found file. If FALSE, returns only the URL. Default is FALSE.

Details

The function performs web scraping on the specified URL to find download links. It prioritizes files from the current year, but will fall back to the previous year if no current year files are available.

The function requires the following packages: rvest, dplyr, and stringr. These packages must be installed before using this function.

Value

If return_info = FALSE, returns a character string with the URL of the most recent file, or NULL if no suitable file is found. If return_info = TRUE, returns a list containing:

url

Character. The complete URL of the file

filename

Character. The name of the file

file_type

Character. The file extension

extraction_date

Date. The date when the link was extracted

source_page

Character. The source webpage URL

Returns NULL if no suitable file is found or if an error occurs during web scraping.

See Also

http://www.reptile-database.org/ for more information about the Reptile Database.

Examples

# Get just the URL - requires internet connection
url <- get_latest_reptile_download()

# Get detailed information
info <- get_latest_reptile_download(return_info = TRUE)

# Search for specific file types
zip_url <- get_latest_reptile_download(file_types = "zip")

# Search for files from a specific year
url_2024 <- get_latest_reptile_download(current_year = 2024)

reptiledb.data documentation built on Aug. 8, 2025, 7:13 p.m.