Review rpygeo

_rmd/2019-03-10-RPyGeo-1_0_0.Rmd

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "RPyGeo 1.0.0"
+date:  "`r format(Sys.time(), '%d %B, %Y')`"
+comments: true
+author: Marc Becker
+categories: r
+---
+
+<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/mathjax/2.7.0/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML" type="text/javascript"></script>
+
+[DOWNLOADHERE]
+
+RPyGeo 1.0.0 has been released on CRAN. The RPyGeo package establishes an interface to the geoprocessing tools of ArcGIS from within R. ArGIS is a geographic information system developed by Esri. 
+
+The new RPyGeo package accesses the ArcPy Python side-package via the [reticulate](https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/reticulate/index.html) package. ArcGIS provides almost all of it's geoprocessing tools via ArcPy. With RPyGeo these functions are available in R. Additonally RPyGeo provides utilitiy functions to create a seamless workflow between ArcGIS and R. 
+
+In 2015 Esri released the R-ArcGIS Bridge, a software that also connects ArcGIS and R. Essentially, the R-ArcGIS Bridge offers read, write and conversion functions to transfer data from ArcGIS to R and vice versa. The idea is to use the large number of R packages to solve spatial problems, which cannot be solved with ArcGIS alone. R scripts can be run as geospatial scripts with an interactive user inferface from within ArcGIS. However, no functionality is added for the R user. RPyGeo is able to run the geoprocessing tools of ArcGIS directly from the R session.      
+The update added many new features to the package. It is now possible to chain ArcPy functions togheter with the pipe operator. Help files for all ArcGIS functions can be viewed directly inside RStudio. Moreover, map algebra expressions can be used to modify raster objects.   
+
+For a detailed instruction on how to use RPyGeo we would like to refer to the [vignette](https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/RPyGeo/RPyGeo.pdf). It includes a tutorial with all essential RPyGeo functions. 
+
+The devolepment of RPyGeo is now integrated into the r-spatial.org community. If you find any bugs please report them at our new development repository [r-spatial/RPyGeo](https://github.com/r-spatial/RPyGeo) or help us fix them via a pull request.

_rmd/2019-03-11-RPyGeo-1_0_0.Rmd

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "RPyGeo 1.0.0"
+date:  "`r format(Sys.time(), '%d %B, %Y')`"
+comments: true
+author: Marc Becker
+categories: r
+---
+
+<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/mathjax/2.7.0/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML" type="text/javascript"></script>
+
+[DOWNLOADHERE]
+
+RPyGeo 1.0.0 has been released on 14.11.2018 on CRAN. 
+The _RPyGeo_ package establishes an interface to the geoprocessing tools of _ArcGIS_ from within R. 
+[ArcGIS](https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/about-arcgis/overview) is one of the leading commercial GIS applications and is being developed by Esri since 1999.
+
+ArcGIS offers access to its geoprocessing tools via a Python site-package called _ArcPy_. 
+The new version of _RPyGeo_ reads the site-package via the [reticulate](https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/reticulate/index.html) package into the R session.
+
+If you want to run the following examples you need a working _ArcMap_ or _ArcGIS Pro_ installation. 
+
+```{r, eval=FALSE}
+library("RPyGeo")
+library("sf")
+library("raster")
+library("magrittr")
+
+data(dem, package = "RQGIS")
+writeRaster(dem, file.path(tempdir(), "dem.tif"), format = "GTiff")
+```
+
+After the environment has been set using `rpygeo_build_env()`, all geoprocessing tools of _ArcGIS_ are available in R.   
+
+```{r, eval=FALSE}
+arcpy <- rpygeo_build_env(workspace = tempdir(),
+                          overwrite = TRUE)
+```
+
+The ArcPy functions can be accessed via the `$` operator. 
+Autocompletion of all available functions is supported.
+
+```{r, eval=FALSE}
+arcpy$Slope_3d(in_raster = "dem.tif", out_raster = "slope.tif")
+```
+
+RPyGeo can load spatial objects stored in Esri's proprietary geodatabases as well as files from the hard disk with the `rpygeo_load()` function.
+
+```{r, eval=FALSE}
+slope <- rpygeo_load("slope.tif")
+
+plot(slope)
+```
+
+<img src="../images/rpygeo1.jpg", width="100%" style="display: block; margin: auto;" />
+*Figure 1: Slope computed with Slope_3d() and plotted in R.*
+
+Both functions can be chained using the pipe operator. It is also possible to use the pipe operator to chain multiple geoprocessing tools.
+
+```{r, eval=FALSE}
+arcpy$Slope_3d(in_raster = "dem.tif", out_raster = "slope.tif") %>%
+  rpygeo_load()
+```
+
+Map algebra expressions can be used in _RPyGeo_ with special operators to modify _ArcPy_ raster objects. 
+The resulting temporary files can be saved to the hard disk using the function `rpygeo_save()`.
+
+```{r, eval=FALSE}
+ras <- arcpy$sa$Raster("dem.tif") 
+
+ras %rpygeo_+% 2 %>%
+  rpygeo_save("dem_2.tif")
+```
+
+With the new version many other utility functions are added. 
+Help files for all _ArcPy_ functions can be viewed directly inside R using `rpygeo_help()`.
+`rpygeo_search()` returns all available geoprocessing functions that contain a specified search term. 
+The new functions try to provide a seamless workflow between _ArcGIS_ and R.
+
+In 2015 Esri released the [R-ArcGIS Bridge](https://r-arcgis.github.io), a software that also connects _ArcGIS_ and R. 
+Essentially, the _R-ArcGIS_ Bridge offers read, write and conversion functions to transfer data from _ArcGIS_ to R and vice versa. 
+The idea is to use the large number of R packages to solve spatial problems, which cannot be solved with _ArcGIS_ alone. 
+R scripts are integrated into geoprocessing scripts, which can be run as geoprocessing tools from within _ArcGIS_. 
+The user can add a user interface to the geoprocessing tool or use it as a part of a ModelBuilder workflow in _ArcGIS_. 
+However, no extra functionality is added for the R user. 
+The _R-ArcGIS_ Bridge cannot run geoprocessing tools from within R, whereas _RPyGeo_ offers almost all geoprocessing tools of _ArcGIS_ directly from the R session. 
+The _R-ArcGIS_ Bridge is developed for users, who want to process their whole workflow from within _ArcGIS_, whereas _RPyGeo_ is developed for R users who want to integrate a geoprocessing tool into their R workflow.
+
+For detailed instructions on how to use _RPyGeo_ we would like to refer to its [vignette](https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/RPyGeo/RPyGeo.pdf). 
+It includes a tutorial with all essential _RPyGeo_ functions and the necessary data to run the above examples.
+
+The source code of _RPyGeo_ is now hosted on [Github](https://github.com/r-spatial/RPyGeo) within the [r-spatial](https://github.com/r-spatial/) organization.