NEWS

inkaR 0.6.6 (2026-06-29)

compare_districts() / compare_district(): Filter downloaded datasets by district IDs (Kennziffer) or names.
compare_region(): Singular alias for compare_regions().

plot_inkar() upgrades:
- Added support for BND (Germany level 0) and GEM (Municipalities level 3) boundaries.
- Added geom parameter to plot data on custom sf boundaries (e.g. ROR spatial planning regions).
- Added a viridis map output image to the introduction vignette.
Base R Fuzzy Fallback: Added a fallback using built-in utils::adist() when the stringdist package is not available.
CRAN Policy compliance: Relocated usage history tracking from ~/.inkaR_history to tools::R_user_dir("inkaR", which = "config") in interactive sessions, and disabled it entirely in non-interactive sessions.
API stability: Added a null-response check to parallel request loops to handle timeouts gracefully.
Documentation: Built a complete pkgdown package documentation website.

inkar(): English-first shortcut alias for get_inkar_data() with lang = "en" and year = "latest" as defaults.
compare_regions(): Filter a downloaded data frame to specific regions by partial name match.
inkar_trends(): Plot time series as a ggplot2 line chart for selected regions.
get_themes(): List unique indicator themes from the local metadata for use with theme filtering.

year = "latest": get_inkar_data() now accepts year = "latest" to automatically download only the most recent available year.
plot_inkar() improvements: New highlight, breaks (equal/quantile), and title parameters for richer map customization.
search_indicators() / view_indicators(): New theme parameter to pre-filter by indicator domain (see get_themes()).
pkgdown support: Added _pkgdown.yml for documentation website generation.

Smart ID resolver: get_inkar_data() now resolves indicator IDs through five fallback tiers (exact, numeric, normalized, partial name, fuzzy).
Schema guarantee: All 9 expected output columns are always present, even when the API returns partial data.
Readable wide-format column names: Multi-indicator wide-format output now uses indicator names (e.g., Gross_domestic_product) instead of opaque IDs (ind_11).
Retry & timeout: API requests now include a 30-second timeout and automatic retry.
Progress bar: Multi-indicator downloads show a cli progress bar.
Improved fuzzy search: search_indicators() now compares against Name_EN only and uses a tighter Jaro-Winkler threshold.
update_indicators() stability: Gracefully handles API 500 errors instead of crashing.
BLD-level warning: Informative message when BLD-level data is unavailable for a given indicator.

CRAN Archive Fix: get_cache_dir() no longer writes to ~/.cache/R/inkaR/ during non-interactive sessions (e.g. R CMD check). In non-interactive environments the cache now uses tempdir() (cleaned up at session end), while interactive sessions continue to use the persistent tools::R_user_dir("inkaR", which = "cache") directory. This resolves the NOTE that caused the package to be archived on CRAN (checking for new files in some other directories).

Interactive Selection Wizard: Calling inkaR() without arguments now opens a professional CLI wizard to guide users through selecting an indicator, then an available spatial level, and finally a year or year range.
Analytical Multi-Indicator Downloads: Users can now pass a vector of IDs (e.g., c("bip", "xbev")) or enter multiple IDs in the wizard (separated by spaces).
Multi-Indicator Joins: Automatically handles the merging of multiple indicators.
- format = "long" (default) stacks indicators in a tidy format.
- format = "wide" pivots indicators into individual columns for direct comparison and mathematical operations.
Fuzzy Search Engine: Indicator selection now supports error-tolerant search using the stringdist package (Jaro-Winkler method).

Professional Table Display: Rewrote indicator selection and search results using the cli package for high-end, paginated, and responsive terminal tables.
Usage History & Favorites: The package now tracks frequently and recently used indicators, highlighting them in green and pinning them to the top of selection lists.
Intelligent Year Selection: Implemented a professional 4-column layout for year selection with validated user input.

Premium Themes: Introduced theme_inkaR(), a high-end ggplot2 theme with dedicated light and dark modes.
Upgraded Mapping: plot_inkar() now supports bilingual labels, automatic unit extraction, and professional color palettes (Viridis, Magma).

FIXED: Added graceful handling for SSL certificate verification issues on specific CRAN builders (e.g., Fedora).
IMPROVED: Wrapped network-dependent examples in try() to ensure CRAN checks pass even with environment-specific network limitations.

FIXED: Addressed CRAN feedback regarding single quotes in DESCRIPTION.
FIXED: Added missing \value tags to exported .Rd files (e.g., clear_inkar_cache()).
FIXED: Replaced \dontrun{} with \donttest{} or if(interactive()) to ensure proper example testing.
FIXED: Ensured CSV exporting examples do not write to the user home directory (tempdir()).

Added persistent disk-caching (tools::R_user_dir) to heavily improve GetGebieteZumRaumbezug lookup times across sessions.
Implemented parallel API dispatching (httr2::req_perform_parallel) for exploring spatial levels, eliminating the sequential wait time.
Introduced plot_inkar() for native geospatial mapping with ggplot2 and sf by directly downloading and matching GADM polygon data.

Fixed missing mock payloads in testthat by completely regenerating httptest2 records.
Avoided decimal conversion errors (NA) by implementing robust locale-agnostic numeric parsing.
Addressed spell checking NOTEs caught by win-builder.