Connection Error

[Mirrorlkj]

When trying to run this

library(geonames)
countryInfo <- GNcountryInfo()

I got an error message:

Error in url(url, open = "r") : cannot open the connection
In addition: Warning message:
In url(url, open = "r") : InternetOpenUrl failed: '

[barryrowlingson]

I can't tell if this is a problem with R connecting to the internet or with the geonames package. What version of geonames are you using (run packageVersion("geonames") to see).

geonames uses R's underlying networking functions to get the data from the geonames server. Please try this:

readLines(url("http://www.example.com/",open="r"))

if you get the same error then there's a problem with your R's networking setup.

You can also try:

readLines(url("http://api.geonames.org/",open="r"))

which will either give a network fail or if you can connect to the geonames server should return a "401 Unauthorised" error.

[Si-Chong]

I am using R version 3.6.3 and geonames version 0.999.
No matter which function of "geonames" I try, I keep getting the same error -- HTTP status was '401 Unauthorized'

I have tried your suggestion using the follow, which gives the same error -- HTTP status was '401 Unauthorized':
readLines(url("http://api.geonames.org/",open="r"))

I am pretty sure I have internet connection on my computer, and I am also having GeoNames.org website account registered. But how could I check if my R/RStudio is acting right and let me get through?
Thank you very much for suggestions.

[sckott]

you probably need to set your geonames key - see https://github.com/ropensci/geonames#geonames

[Si-Chong]

you probably need to set your geonames key - see https://github.com/ropensci/geonames#geonames

Thanks.
Are you saying this line: options(geonamesUsername="myusername")
Yes, I set it to my registered username. Before I set it, I also got errors about it, but now it's gone. However, the '401 Unauthorized' is still there.

For example, I run the function example: GNfindNearByWeather(57,-2)
The full error message is:
Error in url(url, open = "r") : cannot open the connection
In addition: Warning message:
In url(url, open = "r") :
cannot open URL 'http://api.geonames.org/findNearByWeatherJSON?lat=57&lng=-2&username=sichong': HTTP status was '401 Unauthorized'

[sckott]

@barryrowlingson can you help?

[barryrowlingson]

I can reproduce this:

> options(geonamesUsername="sichong")
> GNfindNearByWeather(57,-2)
Error in url(url, open = "r") : 
  cannot open the connection to 'http://api.geonames.org/findNearByWeatherJSON?lat=57&lng=-2&username=sichong'
In addition: Warning message:
In url(url, open = "r") :
  cannot open URL 'http://api.geonames.org/findNearByWeatherJSON?lat=57&lng=-2&username=sichong': HTTP status was '401 Unauthorized'
> 

but it works fine when I use my geonames username:

> options(geonamesUsername=myusername)
> GNfindNearByWeather(57,-2)
$elevation
[1] 65

I can only suggest checking your geonames account is working and you can log in at geonames.org

[DrMattG]

I am having the same issue. I can log on to my geonames account without any issues. But I get the same error when running any query using the R package. Did anyone have any other potential solutions? I have just opened the account on geonames - do I need to wait a few days?

[DrMattG]

Solved it! One needs to enable webservices on your geonames user account at https://www.geonames.org/manageaccount. Then it works.

[Si-Chong]

Thank you DrMattG!
Following what you said, I solved it too!

library(geonames)
options(geonamesUsername="myusername")    # Change it
GNfindNearByWeather(57,-2)

[barryrowlingson]

I'll have to make a note in the documentation for users to enable web services. Thanks for finding that!

[GitHunter0]

Solved it! One needs to enable webservices on your geonames user account at https://www.geonames.org/manageaccount. Then it works.

Thanks man, that solved for me too.