mountainMath / mountainMath/cangeocode
Attach StatCan geographies to geocode() / reverse_geocode() results
Nobody has claimed this yet.
- Dominant language
- R
- Stars
- 0
- Forks
- 0
- PR merge metrics
- No merged PRs in 30d
Description
Split out of #1, which is closed: `Locations` is imported and carries `CSD_CODE`, `FED_CODE`/`FED_ENG_NAME`/`FED_FRE_NAME` and `ER_CODE`/`ER_ENG_NAME`/`ER_FRE_NAME`, joined to `Addresses` on `LOC_GUID`.
What is missing is a convenience layer. Today a user who wants the census subdivision or federal riding for a geocoded address has to know the schema and write the join themselves — the Querying NAR vignette shows how, but it is manual:
tbl(con, "Addresses") |>
left_join(tbl(con, "Locations") |> select(LOC_GUID, FED_ENG_NAME, ER_ENG_NAME),
by = "LOC_GUID")
Proposal: attach the geography for callers who never touch the database directly.
Open questions, roughly in the order they need answering:
- Shape. An argument on the existing functions (`geocode(geographies = TRUE)`, `reverse_geocode(geographies = ...)`) or a standalone verb (`nar_geographies(x, con)`) that takes a result and adds columns? A standalone verb composes better and keeps the two entry points from growing a third mode each.
- Which columns, and named how. All of CSD/FED/ER, or a selectable subset? NAR ships codes and both official-language names; returning nine columns by default is a lot.
- Rows with no `ADDR_GUID`. Interpolated and `bc_*` rows have no NAR record to join through, so the geography would have to come from the point rather than the key — a spatial lookup against something the package does not currently carry. Simplest first cut is to fill `NA` for those and document it; anything better needs boundary files.
- `geom_source`. A blockface-derived point can sit on the far side of a boundary from the building it stands for. Worth a note if the geography is ever derived spatially.
Contributor guide
No contributing guide indexed for this repository
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with geocode(), reverse_geocode(), the Querying NAR vignette, and the Addresses-to-Locations join on LOC_GUID. Resolve the proposed API shape, geography columns, handling of rows without ADDR_GUID, and geom_source semantics; done means the chosen interface attaches documented geography results without requiring callers to write the join.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- r
- Domain
- api
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100