delma

Overview

delma is a package for converting metadata statements written in markdown, RMarkdown or Quarto markdown to Ecological Metadata Language (EML). It is named for a genus of legless lizards that are endemic to Australia, whose name happens to contain the letters ‘e’, ‘m’ and ‘l’.

The logo depicts a striped legless lizard (Delma impar) in the style of the classic mobile game ‘snake’, a play on the observation that Delma are often mistaken for snakes. It was drawn by Martin Westgate.

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Installation

Python Package Index

To install the latest release in the Python Package Index, run the following in your terminal:

pip install delma-python

To upgrade to the latest release:

pip install --upgrade delma-python

Github

git clone https://github.com/AtlasOfLivingAustralia/delma_python.git
# go into delma-python/delma
pip install .

Basic usage

The primary use case for delma is to build metadata statements for sharing biodiversity data. The first step is to create a markdown file, and add any headings that you like that conform to the EML standard. The header ‘level’ (i.e. number of #) is used to designate the degree of nesting. If you don’t want to start from scratch, you can use the example statement provided:

import delma
delma.create_md()

Now there will be a metadata.md file in your current working directory.
You will need to edit this so all relevant metadata for your dataset is there.

To convert this edited markdown document to EML, use:

delma.write_eml_xml()

Note that EML documents use the extension .xml. To check that your document is formatted in accordance with the EML standard, use:

delma.check_eml_xml("eml.xml")

For a more detailed description of delma’s capabilities and methods, see the ‘Quick start guide’ vignette.

Citing delma

The current recommended citation is:

Buyan A, Kellie D, Westgate M (2023). delma: Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) Data and Resources in Python. Python package version 0.1.0.