EcoData Retriever
Finding data is one thing. Getting it ready to use is another.
The EcoData Retriever does all the work so that you can focus on doing science.
Most ecological datasets do not adhere to any agreed-upon standards in format, data structure or method of access. As a result acquiring and utilizing available datasets can be a time consuming and error prone process. The EcoData Retriever automates the tasks of finding, downloading, and cleaning up ecological data files, and then stores them in a local database. The automation of this process reduces the time for a user to get most large datasets up and running by hours, and in some cases days. Small datasets can be downloaded and installed in seconds and large datasets in minutes. The program also cleans up known issues with the datasets and automatically restructures them into standard formats before inserting the data into your choice of database management systems (Microsoft Access, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite, on Windows, Mac and Linux).
Downloads
The EcoData Retriever binaries and source are released under the MIT license.
| File Name | Description | Version | Date Updated |
| retriever.exe | Windows executable | 1.3 | 04/18/2012 |
| python-retriever_1.3-1_all.deb | Debian package (Linux) | 1.3 | 04/18/2012 |
| mac-retriever-1-3.zip | Mac bundle |
1.3 Beta* | 04/18/2012 |
| retriever-src.tar.gz | Source package | 1.3 | 04/18/2012 |
*We don't use Macs, so we have very limited abilities to test the Mac bundle. Therefore the Mac bundle is currently in Beta. Please let us know how it works for you.
You can also clone the GitHub repository if you want to work with the latest (unstable) version.
Documentation
- Getting started
- Available datasets
- Read the developer documentation
- How to write your own scripts
- Read the API documentation
Report an issue
We are currently in the beta testing phase of development and would greatly appreciate any and all feedback, tests of various imports, bug reports, etc. You can either submit an issue at Github or email us directly.
Acknowledgments
The EcoData Retriever was written by Ben Morris with help from Ethan White. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation as part of a CAREER award to Ethan White. Contributors include Glenda Yenni (testing) and Kate Thibault (dataset scripts).
License
Copyright (c) 2011 Weecology
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
