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bcmaps

INFRA · APIS
Velocity0.0

Map Layers and Spatial Utilities for British Columbia

github.com/bcgov/bcmaps ↗

BC's spatial data package finished its sf migration and went back to adding layers

spatial-datar-packageopen-governmentsfbritish-columbiagis
◆Current state
bcmaps provides British Columbia spatial layers and boundary data to R users, pulling from the BC Data Catalogue. The disruptive work is behind it: version 2.0.0 removed sp and raster support outright, leaving sf as the only returned class, in response to the retirement of rgdal and rgeos. Since then releases have been additive and small - cded_terra() replacing the deprecated raster variant, utm_convert() for reconciling coordinates across UTM zones, and in 2.3.0 a census dissemination block layer plus a dependency bump that removes an indirect reliance on the soon-to-be-archived leaflet.extras.
◆Where it's heading
The package has spent most of its recent history reducing what it depends on rather than growing. Layers moved from a companion data package to direct Data Catalogue downloads in 1.1.0, ending manual update cycles; the sp and raster removal followed a full release of deprecation warnings; the terra transition took the same staged path. The recent dependency bump for leaflet.extras is the same instinct applied early. Feature work now arrives one function or one layer at a time, at roughly one release a year.
◆Prediction
Expect further individual layer additions on request, and a completion of the terra transition through removal of the deprecated cded_raster(), given the package's pattern of announcing removals a release ahead.

◆Recent moves

  1. 5mo ago

    Census dissemination block layer added

    Adds census_dissemination_block() to the layer shortcuts, the finest census geography the package now exposes. The accompanying bcdata version bump removes an indirect dependency on leaflet.extras before that package is archived, which is the same pre-emptive dependency management that shaped the 2.0.0 release.

    View source ↗
  2. 1y ago

    Coordinate conversion fixed where output rows could be misaligned

    Fixes a bug in utm_convert() where converted coordinates could be attached to the wrong rows of the input data frame - the kind of silent error that produces plausible-looking maps of the wrong places. Also makes the cached-data ask argument actually take effect and preserves tibble classes.

    View source ↗
  3. 2y ago

    utm_convert handles mixed UTM zones in tabular data

    Adds utm_convert() for tabular X and Y coordinates spread across multiple UTM zones, reprojecting them into a single CRS. A practical addition for a province wide enough to span zones, though it needed a correctness fix in the following release.

    View source ↗
  4. 2y ago

    terra-based elevation function replaces the raster one

    Introduces cded_terra() and deprecates cded_raster(), continuing the same staged migration away from the legacy spatial stack that 2.0.0 completed for sp. Announced a release before removal, as this package consistently does.

    View source ↗
  5. 2y ago

    sp and raster support removed, leaving sf as the only output class

    ⚡ SPARK

    The breaking release the previous version had spent six months warning about. It resets what every download function returns and deletes several utilities outright, which makes it the version boundary any existing bcmaps script has to be checked against.

    View source ↗
  6. 3y ago

    Deprecation warnings announce the coming sf-only release

    Adds deprecation warnings across the class argument and the Spatial-specific utilities, with an explicit statement that full removal follows in the next release. The preparation half of the migration that 2.0.0 completed.

    View source ↗