Interactive API Help

The ApiHelp submodule provides interactive discovery and browsing of the PBDB data service API documentation directly from the Julia REPL.

using PaleobiologyDB.ApiHelp

REPL Demo

The module itself is documented and discoverable from the Julia help system:

julia> using PaleobiologyDB.ApiHelp

help?> ApiHelp
search: ApiHelp

  ApiHelp

  Provides interactive help and documentation for the Paleobiology Database (PBDB) API.

  Available Functions
  ===================
    •  pbdb_help() - Show available API endpoints or detailed help for a specific endpoint
    •  pbdb_endpoints() - List all available PBDB API endpoints
    •  pbdb_parameters(endpoint) - Show parameters for an endpoint
    •  pbdb_fields(endpoint) - Show response fields for an endpoint
    •  pbdb_api_search(pattern) - Search documentation for patterns

Use pbdb_parameters to explore what filters are available for any endpoint:

julia> PaleobiologyDB.ApiHelp.pbdb_parameters("occurrences")
SELECTION PARAMETERS:
  all_records
    Select all occurrences entered in the database
  occ_id
    Comma-separated list of occurrence identifiers
  coll_id
    Comma-separated list of collection identifiers
  base_name
    Taxonomic name(s), including all subtaxa and synonyms
  taxon_name
    Taxonomic name(s), including synonyms
  taxon_id
    Taxa identifiers, not including subtaxa or synonyms

GEOGRAPHIC PARAMETERS:
  lngmin
    Minimum longitude bound
  lngmax
    Maximum longitude bound
  latmin
    Minimum latitude bound
  latmax
    Maximum latitude bound
  cc
    Country codes (e.g., 'US,CA') or continent codes
  country_name
    Full country names, may include wildcards
  state
    State or province names

TEMPORAL PARAMETERS:
  interval
    Named geologic time intervals (e.g., 'Miocene')
  min_ma
    Minimum age in millions of years
  max_ma
    Maximum age in millions of years
  timerule [contain|major|overlap]
    Temporal locality rule

TAXONOMIC PARAMETERS:
  idreso [species|genus|family]
    Taxonomic resolution
  taxon_status [valid|accepted|invalid]
    Taxonomic status
  extant [yes|no]
    Extant status

OUTPUT PARAMETERS:
  show [class|coords|loc|time|strat|env]
    Additional info blocks
  order [id|max_ma|identification]
    Result ordering
  limit
    Maximum number of records to return

Module reference

PaleobiologyDB.ApiHelp — Module

ApiHelp

Provides interactive help and documentation for the Paleobiology Database (PBDB) API.

Available Functions

pbdb_help() - Show available API endpoints or detailed help for a specific endpoint
pbdb_endpoints() - List all available PBDB API endpoints
pbdb_parameters(endpoint) - Show parameters for an endpoint
pbdb_fields(endpoint) - Show response fields for an endpoint
pbdb_api_search(pattern) - Search documentation for patterns

Quick Start

# List all available endpoints
pbdb_help()

# Get detailed help for a specific endpoint
pbdb_help("occurrences")

# View parameters for an endpoint
pbdb_parameters("occurrences")

# View response fields
pbdb_fields("occurrences")

# Search documentation
pbdb_api_search("latitude")

Common Usage Patterns

# Explore geographic parameters
pbdb_parameters("occurrences", category = "geographic")

# Look at basic response fields only
pbdb_fields("occurrences", block = "basic")

# Search only in parameters
pbdb_api_search("temporal", scope = "parameters")

For detailed help on any function, use ?function_name (e.g., ?pbdb_help).

source

Functions

PaleobiologyDB.ApiHelp.pbdb_help — Function

pbdb_help()
pbdb_help(endpoint)

Show available PBDB API endpoints or detailed help for a specific endpoint.

Examples:

pbdb_help()              # List all available endpoints
pbdb_help("occurrences") # Show detailed help for occurrences endpoint

source

PaleobiologyDB.ApiHelp.pbdb_endpoints — Function

pbdb_endpoints()

List all available PBDB API endpoints.

source

PaleobiologyDB.ApiHelp.pbdb_parameters — Function

pbdb_parameters(endpoint; category = "")

Show parameters for an endpoint, optionally filtered by category.

Examples:

pbdb_parameters("occurrences")                    # All parameters
pbdb_parameters("occurrences", category = "temporal") # Just temporal parameters

source

PaleobiologyDB.ApiHelp.pbdb_fields — Function

pbdb_fields(endpoint; block = "")

Show response fields for an endpoint, optionally filtered by block.

Examples:

pbdb_fields("occurrences")              # All fields
pbdb_fields("occurrences", block = "basic") # Just basic fields

source

PaleobiologyDB.ApiHelp.pbdb_api_search — Function

pbdb_api_search(pattern; scope = "all", endpoint = "occurrences")

Search documentation for a pattern.

Examples:

pbdb_api_search("latitude")                     # Search everywhere
pbdb_api_search("age", scope = "parameters")      # Search only parameters
pbdb_api_search("temporal", scope = "fields")     # Search only fields

source