Initial minimal implementation of the VegBank R client

[regetz]

Outcome

Minimal R package that includes working code to retrieve a plot using the VegBank REST API, and passes all basic checks.

Details

Aligned with the initial API implementation deliverable under issue NCEAS/vegbank2#41, this initial MVP should include functionality for querying via the VegBank REST API for a single plot observation using the observation accession code, and returning the response as a data.frame.

Out of scope

• Validation of the input accession code
• Validation of the returned response
• Error handling

Acceptance criteria

• R package passes standard checks (R CMD check / devtools::check())
• R package contains a meaningful DESCRIPTION file with valid license
• R package can be loaded.
• Package provides a way to set & get the API base URL, especially to enable testing of the API deployed to the local testing environment.
• Package provides a way to hit the VegBank API and return a single plot observation record associated with a requested (and valid) accession code.
• Created functions have useful (albeit minimal) and valid documentation