PPG Curators Data Repository

Automated import of data from Google Sheets to CSV files for Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group (PPG).

Overview

This repository automatically imports data from a public Google Spreadsheet and stores it as CSV files. The import runs daily and can also be triggered manually.

You can find the data files here:

• curators.csv: List of curator names and ORCID iDs
• genera.csv: List of fern and lycophyte genera and their curators

For more information about Curators in PPG, see the Curator's Guide

Data Source

• Google Spreadsheet: View Spreadsheet
• Import Frequency: Daily at 2 AM UTC (automatic)
• Manual Trigger: Available via GitHub Actions

Repository Structure

.
├── data/                 # CSV files exported from Google Sheets
├── scripts/              # R scripts for data import
│   └── import_sheets.R   # Main import script
└── .github/
    └── workflows/
        └── import-sheets.yml  # GitHub Actions workflow

Manual Import

To manually trigger an import:

1. Go to the Actions tab
2. Select "Import Google Sheets Data" workflow
3. Click "Run workflow"
4. Click the green "Run workflow" button

Local Development

Prerequisites

• R (version 4.0 or higher)
• R packages: googlesheets4, readr

Running Locally

# Install required packages (first time only)
Rscript -e 'install.packages(c("googlesheets4", "readr"))'

# Run the import script
Rscript scripts/import_sheets.R

The script will:

1. Connect to the Google Spreadsheet (no authentication needed for public sheets)
2. Read all sheets
3. Export each sheet as a CSV file in the data/ directory

How It Works

1. GitHub Actions workflow runs on a schedule (daily) or manual trigger
2. R script uses googlesheets4 package to read the public spreadsheet
3. Each sheet is exported as a separate CSV file
4. Changes are automatically committed to the repository
5. If no changes are detected, no commit is made

Notes

• The spreadsheet is public, so no authentication credentials are needed
• CSV files are tracked in git and will show in commit history
• The workflow only commits when data actually changes
• Created with help from Claude Sonnet 4.5 in VSCode