---

output: github_document

---

<!-- README.md is generated from README.Rmd. Please edit that file -->

```{r, echo = FALSE}

knitr::opts_chunk$set(

collapse = TRUE,

comment = "#>"

)

```

# delma <img src="man/figures/logo.png" align="right" style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 10px;" alt="" width="120"/><br>

## Overview

`delma` is a package for converting metadata statements written in markdown,

RMarkdown or Quarto markdown to [Ecological Metadata Language](https://eml.ecoinformatics.org) (EML). It is named

for a genus of legless lizards that are endemic to Australia, whose name happens

to contain the letters 'e', 'm' and 'l'.

The logo depicts a striped legless lizard (_Delma impar_) in the

style of the classic mobile game 'snake', a play on the observation that

_Delma_ are often mistaken for snakes. It was drawn by Martin Westgate.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please [contact us](mailto:support@ala.org.au).

## Installation

This package is under active development, and is not yet available on CRAN. You

can install the latest development version from GitHub with:

```{r, eval = FALSE}

install.packages("remotes")

remotes::install_github("AtlasOfLivingAustralia/delma")

```

Load the package:

```{r, eval=FALSE}

library(delma)

```

```{r, include = FALSE}

devtools::load_all()

library(dplyr)

```

## Basic usage

The primary use case for `delma` is to build metadata statements for sharing

biodiversity data. The first step is to create a markdown file, and add any

headings that you like that conform to the EML standard. The header 'level'

(i.e. number of `#`) is used to designate the degree of nesting. If you don't

want to start from scratch, you can use the example statement provided:

```{r, eval=FALSE}

use_metadata("my_metadata_statement.Rmd")

```

This document can be knit like any other Rmarkdown document, using either the

'knit' button in RStudio, or the function `rmarkdown::knit()`. In both cases it

will render to the format defined in the yaml section, which defaults to

`html_document`, but can easily be changed. To convert this document to EML,

use:

```{r, eval=FALSE}

render_metadata("my_metadata_statement.Rmd",

"metadata.xml")

```

Note that EML documents use the extension `.xml`. To check that your document

is formatted in accordance with the EML standard, use:

```{r, eval=FALSE}

check_metadata("metadata.xml")

```

For a more detailed description of delma's capabilities and methods, see the

'Quick start guide' vignette.

## Citing `delma`

To generate a citation for the package version you are using, you can run:

```{r}

citation(package = "delma")

```

The current recommended citation is:

> Westgate MJ, Balasubramaniam S & Kellie D (2024) Convert Rmarkdown and Quarto documents to Ecological Metadata Language. R Package version 0.1.0.