# Update to `filter()` behaviour in bcdata v0.4.0

#### 2022-10-28

This vignette describes a change in `{bcdata}` v0.4.0 related to using locally-executed functions in a `filter()` query with `bcdc_query_geodata()`:

When using `bcdc_query_geodata()` with `filter()`, many functions are translated to a query plan that is passed to and executed on the server - this includes the CQL Geometry predicates such as `INTERESECTS()`, `CROSSES()`, `BBOX()` etc, as well as many base R functions. However you sometimes want to include a function call in your `filter()` statement which should be evaluated locally - i.e., it’s an R function (often an `{sf}` function) with no equivalent function on the server. Prior to version 0.4.0, `{bcdata}` did a reasonable (though not perfect) job of detecting R functions inside a `filter()` statement that needed to be evaluated locally. In order to align with recommended best practices for `{dbplyr}` backends, as of v0.4.0, function calls that are to be evaluated locally now need to be wrapped in `local()`.

For example, say we want to create a bounding box around two points and use that box to perform a spatial filter on the remote dataset, to give us just the set of local greenspaces that exist within that bounding box.

    library(sf)
    library(bcdata)

    two_points <- st_sfc(st_point(c(1164434, 368738)),
                         st_point(c(1203023, 412959)),
                         crs = 3005)

Previously, we could just do this, with `sf::st_bbox()` embedded in the call:

    bcdc_query_geodata("local-and-regional-greenspaces") %>%
      filter(BBOX(st_bbox(two_points, crs = st_crs(two_points))))

    ## Error: Unable to process query. Did you use a function that should be evaluated locally? If so, try wrapping it in 'local()'.

However you must now use `local()` to force local evaluation of `st_bbox()` on your machine in R, before it is translated into a query plan to be executed on the server:

    bcdc_query_geodata("local-and-regional-greenspaces") %>%
      filter(BBOX(local(st_bbox(two_points, crs = st_crs(two_points)))))

    ## Querying 'local-and-regional-greenspaces' record
    ## • Using collect() on this object will return 1154 features and 19 fields
    ## • At most six rows of the record are printed here
    ## ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
    ## Simple feature collection with 6 features and 19 fields
    ## Geometry type: POLYGON
    ## Dimension:     XY
    ## Bounding box:  xmin: 1200113 ymin: 385903.5 xmax: 1202608 ymax: 386561.8
    ## Projected CRS: NAD83 / BC Albers
    ## # A tibble: 6 × 20
    ##   id         LOCAL…¹ PARK_…² PARK_…³ PARK_…⁴ REGIO…⁵ MUNIC…⁶ CIVIC…⁷ CIVIC…⁸ STREE…⁹ LATIT…˟ LONGI…˟
    ##   <chr>        <int> <chr>   <chr>   <chr>   <chr>   <chr>   <chr>   <chr>   <chr>     <dbl>   <dbl>
    ## 1 WHSE_BASE…    3347 Konuks… Local   Green … Capital Distri… <NA>    <NA>    <NA>       48.5   -123.
    ## 2 WHSE_BASE…    3304 <NA>    Local   Trail   Capital Distri… <NA>    <NA>    <NA>       48.5   -123.
    ## 3 WHSE_BASE…    3380 <NA>    Local   Water … Capital Distri… <NA>    <NA>    <NA>       48.5   -123.
    ## 4 WHSE_BASE…    3369 <NA>    Local   Water … Capital Distri… <NA>    <NA>    <NA>       48.5   -123.
    ## 5 WHSE_BASE…    3453 <NA>    Local   Water … Capital Distri… <NA>    <NA>    <NA>       48.5   -123.
    ## 6 WHSE_BASE…    3361 <NA>    Local   Trail   Capital Distri… <NA>    <NA>    <NA>       48.5   -123.
    ## # … with 8 more variables: WHEN_UPDATED <date>, WEBSITE_URL <chr>, LICENCE_COMMENTS <chr>,
    ## #   FEATURE_AREA_SQM <dbl>, FEATURE_LENGTH_M <dbl>, OBJECTID <int>, SE_ANNO_CAD_DATA <chr>,
    ## #   geometry <POLYGON [m]>, and abbreviated variable names ¹​LOCAL_REG_GREENSPACE_ID, ²​PARK_NAME,
    ## #   ³​PARK_TYPE, ⁴​PARK_PRIMARY_USE, ⁵​REGIONAL_DISTRICT, ⁶​MUNICIPALITY, ⁷​CIVIC_NUMBER,
    ## #   ⁸​CIVIC_NUMBER_SUFFIX, ⁹​STREET_NAME, ˟​LATITUDE, ˟​LONGITUDE

There is another illustration in the “querying spatial data vignette”.