[R] Modifying Package Data

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 6 Feb 2013, MacQueen, Don wrote:

> My sense is that even if this were possible (which I doubt),

Don,

   It is possible.

> ... it would be outside the scope of what would be considered appropriate
> in R (assuming I understand the question). After all, it's someone else's
> package, theirs to control and maintain, etc. What if it's an installation
> of R on a multi-user platform, and other users might use the same package
> but not want the modified data?

   The data are in the public domain. You can get the ITIS taxonomic database
from the USGS; this table is a data frame version of that database used by
the bio.infer package to associate taxa with environmental conditions. Last
year the ITIS database administrator (DBA) sent me the MySQL version which I
converted to PostgreSQL and provided him with a copy as well as having one
for my own use.

   Linux is inherently a multi-user/multi-tasking OS; always has been, always
will be. So are all UNIX derivatives. If another user does not want to get
the full taxonomic description of that particular fly, he/she is welcome to
ignore it along with all the other taxa he/she is not referencing.

   The taxon to be added is one found during the US EPA's EMAP-West
(Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program for the 14 western states),
also public domain data.

   Lester Yuan, the bio.infer package developer and I have been communicating
about soft spots and modifications.

Rich