Title:	Short Quasi-Unique Identifiers (SQUIDs)
Version:	25.6.1
Description:	It is often useful to produce short, quasi-unique identifiers (SQUIDs) without the benefit of a central authority to prevent duplication. Although Universally Unique Identifiers (UUIDs) provide for this, these are also unwieldy; for example, the most used UUID, version 4, is 36 characters long. SQUIDs are short (8 characters) at the expense of having more collisions, which can be mitigated by combining them with human-produced suffixes, yielding relatively brief, half human-readable, almost-unique identifiers (see for example the identifiers used for Decentralized Construct Taxonomies; Peters & Crutzen, 2024 <doi:10.15626/MP.2022.3638>). SQUIDs are the number of centiseconds elapsed since the beginning of 1970 converted to a base 30 system. This package contains functions to produce SQUIDs as well as convert them back into dates and times.
License:	GPL (≥ 3)
BugReports:	https://codeberg.org/R-packages/squids/issues
URL:	https://squids.opens.science
Encoding:	UTF-8
RoxygenNote:	7.3.2
Suggests:	knitr, rmarkdown
VignetteBuilder:	knitr
NeedsCompilation:	no
Packaged:	2025-06-07 10:30:37 UTC; gjalt
Author:	Gjalt-Jorn Peters [aut, cre]
Maintainer:	Gjalt-Jorn Peters <squids@opens.science>
Repository:	CRAN
Date/Publication:	2025-06-07 10:50:02 UTC

Short Quasi-Unique Identifiers ('SQUIDs')

Description

It is often useful to produce short, quasi-unique identifiers (SQUIDs) without the benefit of a central authority to prevent duplication. Although Universally Unique Identifiers (UUIDs) provide for this, these are also unwieldy; for example, the most used UUID, version 4, is 36 characters long. SQUIDs are short (8 characters) at the expense of having more collisions, which can be mitigated by combining them with human-produced suffixes, yielding relatively brief, half human-readable, almost-unique identifiers (see for example the identifiers used for Decentralized Construct Taxonomies; Peters & Crutzen, 2024 doi:10.15626/MP.2022.3638). SQUIDs are the number of centiseconds elapsed since the beginning of 1970 converted to a base 30 system. This package contains functions to produce SQUIDs as well as convert them back into dates and times.

Details

SQUIDs are defined as 8-character strings that express a timestamp (the number of centiseconds that passed since the UNIX Epoch) in a base 30 decimal system. The lowest possible SQUID, therefore, is 00000001 (which corresponds to 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC), and the highest possible SQUID is zzzzzzzz, which corresponds to 2177-11-28 11:59:59 UTC.

The base 30 system

The characters used in SQUIDs are Arabic digits (0-9) and (lowercase) Latin letters, omitting vowels. This yields the sequence listed at the bottom of this page. This means that in the base 30 system used by SQUIDs:

• "10" represents "30" in the decimal system;

• "3b" represents "100" in the decimal system (which, for SQUIDs, corresponds to 100 centiseconds, so one second);

• "6n0" represents "6000" in the decimal system (corresponding to one minute);

• "fb00" represents "360000" in the decimal system (corresponding to one hour);

• "bn00" represents "8640000" in the decimal system (corresponding to one day);

Avoiding collisions

Because SQUIDs represent centiseconds, if you generate two or more sequences of SQUIDs in quick succession, these will likely overlap (i.e. contain the same SQUIDs, called "collisions" in "identifier speak").

For example, if you produce a sequence of 1000 SQUIDs, this covers an interval of 10 seconds, and if you produce a sequence of 6000 SQUIDs, this covers an interval of one minute. This means that if you request 6000 SQUIDs and after 30 seconds request another 6000 SQUIDs, and assuming you use the default origin of the current time, the last 3000 SQUIDs of the first sequence and the first 3000 SQUIDs of the second sequence will be the same.

To avoid this, {squids} allows you to specify a sequence of SQUIDs that you want your new SQUIDs to follow using the follow argument. You can also follow the first sequence of SQUIDs at a distance, using the followBy argument; if you specify one or more SQUIDs in the follow argument, and if you specify followBy = 1000, the new sequence of SQUIDs will have an origin 1001 centiseconds after the last SQUID in the sequence you passed in follow.

The SQUID "digits"

These are the 30 SQUID "digits" (on the right) and their corresponding value in the base 10 decimal system (on the left).

 0 = 0
 1 = 1
 2 = 2
 3 = 3
 4 = 4
 5 = 5
 6 = 6
 7 = 7
 8 = 8
 9 = 9
10 = b
11 = c
12 = d
13 = f
14 = g
15 = h
16 = j
17 = k
18 = l
19 = m
20 = n
21 = p
22 = q
23 = r
24 = s
25 = t
26 = w
27 = x
28 = y
29 = z

Author(s)

Maintainer: Gjalt-Jorn Peters squids@opens.science (ORCID)

See Also

Useful links:

• https://squids.opens.science

• Report bugs at https://codeberg.org/R-packages/squids/issues

Add a column with SQUIDs to a data frame

Description

Add a column with SQUIDs to a data frame

Usage

add_squids_to_df(
  x,
  colName = "SQUID",
  warnAgainstOverwriting = TRUE,
  origin = Sys.time(),
  follow = NULL,
  followBy = NULL
)

Arguments

Value

If colName = NULL, the column with SQUIDs; otherwise, x with an additional column named with the value of colName.

Examples

squids::add_squids_to_df(
  mtcars
);

Conversion between base10 and base30

Description

The conversion functions from base10 to base30 and vice versa are used by the squids() functions.

Usage

base30toNumeric(x)

numericToBase30(x)

Arguments

Details

The symbols to represent the 'base 30' system are the 0-9 followed by the alphabet without vowels but including the y. This vector is available as base30.

Value

The converted vector (numeric for base30toNumeric, character for numericToBase30).

Examples

squids::numericToBase30(
  654321
);

squids::base30toNumeric(
  squids::numericToBase30(
    654321
  )
);

Concatenate to screen without spaces

Description

The cat0 function is to cat what paste0 is to paste; it simply makes concatenating many strings without a separator easier.

Usage

cat0(..., sep = "")

Arguments

Value

Nothing (invisible NULL, like cat()).

Examples

cat0("The first variable is '", names(mtcars)[1], "'.");

Check for presence of a package

Description

This function efficiently checks for the presence of a package without loading it (unlike library() or require(). This is useful to force yourself to use the ⁠package::function()⁠ syntax for addressing functions; you can make sure required packages are installed, but their namespace won't attach to the search path.

Usage

checkPkgs(
  ...,
  install = FALSE,
  load = FALSE,
  repos = "https://cran.rstudio.com"
)

Arguments

Value

Invisibly, a vector of the available packages.

Examples

squids::checkPkgs('base');

### Require a specific version
squids::checkPkgs(squids = "25.1.1");

### This will show the error message
tryCatch(
  squids::checkPkgs(
    base = "99",
    stats = "42.5",
    squids = 100
  ),
  error = print
);

Extract SQUIDs from a character vector

Description

This function simply looks for matches with

Usage

extract_squids(x)

Arguments

Value

A character vector with SQUIDs

Examples

example <-
  paste0(
    "some prefix text ", 1:5, " ",
    squids::squids(5),
    " ", letters[1:5], " some suffix text"
  );

squids::extract_squids(
  example
);

Get the current origin for each reuse

Description

Get the current origin for each reuse

Usage

get_current_origin(
  as = "time",
  suppressPrinting = FALSE,
  format = "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %Z"
)

Arguments

Value

The origin, in the format specified in as.

Examples

squids::get_current_origin();

squids::get_current_origin(
  as = "number"
);

squids::get_current_origin(
  as = "time"
);

Set or get a SQUID (to follow)

Description

Because the SQUID is saved in the options, it persists when changed e.g. in function calls, for example when using lapply().

Usage

get_squid(namespace = NULL)

set_squid(x, namespace = NULL)

Arguments

Value

The saved SQUID.

Invisibly, x.

Examples

exampleSQUID <-
  squids::squids();

squids::set_squid(
  exampleSQUID
);

squids::get_squid();

Finding extreme (highest or lowest) SQUIDs

Description

Finding extreme (highest or lowest) SQUIDs

Usage

highest_squid(x)

lowest_squid(x)

Arguments

Value

The highest or lowest SQUID

Examples

squids::highest_squid(
  squids::squids(5)
);

squids::lowest_squid(
  squids::squids(5)
);

Get the next SQUID (or SQUIDs)

Description

Get the next SQUID (or SQUIDs)

Usage

next_squid(x, n = 1, followBy = NULL)

Arguments

Value

One or more SQUIDs

Examples

exampleSQUID <-
  squids::squids(1);

exampleSQUID;

squids::next_squid(exampleSQUID);

### Or for multiple SQUIDs
exampleSQUIDs <-
  squids::squids(5);

exampleSQUIDs;

squids::next_squids(exampleSQUIDs, 3);

Options for the squids package

Description

The squids::opts object contains three functions to set, get, and reset options used by the zirconia package. Use squids::opts$set to set options, squids::opts$get to get options, or squids::opts$reset to reset specific or all options to their default values.

Usage

opts

Format

An object of class list of length 4.

Details

It is normally not necessary to get or set squids options.

The following arguments can be passed:

...

For squids::opts$set, the dots can be used to specify the options to set, in the format option = value, for example, utteranceMarker = "\n". For squids::opts$reset, a list of options to be reset can be passed.

option

For squids::opts$set, the name of the option to set.

default

For squids::opts$get, the default value to return if the option has not been manually specified.

The following options can be set:

silent

Whether to be silent or chatty.

encoding

The default encoding when reading or writing files.

preventOverwriting

Whether to be prevent overwriting of existing files.

debug

Sometimes used to display debugging information.

Examples

### Get the default 'silent' setting
squids::opts$get(silent);

### Set it to FALSE (to be chatty)
squids::opts$set(silent = FALSE);

### Check that it worked
squids::opts$get(silent);

### Reset this option to its default value
squids::opts$reset(silent);

### Check that the reset worked, too
squids::opts$get(silent);

Converting ORCIDs to ShORCIDs and vice versa

Description

These functions produce ShORCIDs (Short ORCIDs) from ORCIDs and vice versa.

Usage

orcid_to_shorcid(x)

shorcid_to_orcid(x, url = FALSE)

Arguments

Details

Conversion ORCID to ShORCID occurs by detaching the last character (the checksum) and storing it. Then in the first string of characters, all non-numbers are removed and the resulting number is converted to a base 30 system with numericToBase30(). The checksum is then re-attached. This is done separately because the checksum can be X (i.e. the only character in an ORCID that's not necessarily numeric). Then, an 'i' is prepended to ensure that the ShORCID starts with a letter. Conversion the other way around just inverts the process (and so uses base30toNumeric()).

Value

The ShORCID(s) or ORCID(s), as a character vector.

Examples

squids::orcid_to_shorcid(
  "0000-0002-9540-5371"
);
squids::shorcid_to_orcid(
  "i16g2sk1"
);

Convert an origin (a timestamp) to a SQUID

Description

For convenience, origin_to_squids(), datetime_to_squids(), and POSIXt_to_squids() can all be used (i.e. they're aliases for the same function). For more information, see squids(). For conversion the other way around, see squids_to_origin().

Usage

origin_to_squids(x)

Arguments

Value

A SQUID

Examples

squids::origin_to_squids(
  Sys.time()
);

Generate short quasi-unique identifiers (SQUIDs)

Description

The squids::squids() function generates a sequence of short quasi-unique identifiers (see squids-package for more details). The squids::random_squids() function is a convenience function that randomizes the result before returning it.

Usage

random_squids(x, origin = Sys.time(), follow = NULL, followBy = NULL)

squids(x, origin = Sys.time(), follow = NULL, followBy = NULL)

Arguments

Details

SQUIDs are defined as 8-character strings that express a timestamp (the number of centiseconds that passed since the UNIX Epoch) in a base 30 decimal system. The lowest possible SQUID is 00000001 (which corresponds to 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC), and the highest possible SQUID is zzzzzzzz, which corresponds to 2177-11-28 11:59:59 UTC. More details are in the squids-package manual page.

Value

A vector of SQUIDs.

Examples

exampleSQUIDs <-
  squids::squids(5);

### Show how SQUIDs are the converted date/time
squids::squids_to_datetime(
  exampleSQUIDs
);

### These seem the same, but if we take these as
### timestamps (seconds passed since the UNIX Epoch)
### and multiply with 100 to see the centiseconds,
### we see the differences:
as.numeric(
  squids::squids_to_datetime(
    exampleSQUIDs
  )
) * 100;

### Get a sequence following the first one
squids::squids(5, follow=exampleSQUIDs);

### Follow at a distance
squids::squids(
  5,
  follow=exampleSQUIDs,
  followBy = 3
);

Repeat a string a number of times

Description

Repeat a string a number of times

Usage

repeatStr(n = 1, str = " ")

Arguments

Value

A character vector of length 1.

Examples

### 10 spaces:
repStr(10);

### Three euro symbols:
repStr("\u20ac", 3);

Converting SQUIDs back to timestamps and dates/times

Description

squids_to_timestamp() converts a SQUID back to a timestamp (the number of seconds that passed since the UNIC Epoch, 1970-01-01, 00:00:00 UTC), and squids_to_datetime(), squids_to_origin(), squids_to_POSIXt() convert a SQUID to a POSIX time object (which is why they also have a tz argument).

Usage

squids_to_datetime(x, tz = "UTC")

squids_to_timestamp(x)

Arguments

Value

A vector of one or more timestamps or POSIXct date/time objects

Examples

exampleSQUID <-
  squids::squids();

### Timestamp (second since UNIX Epoch,
###            1970-01-01, 00:00:00 UTC)
squids::squids_to_timestamp(
  exampleSQUID
);

squids::squids_to_datetime(
  exampleSQUID
);

### In Central European Time
squids::squids_to_datetime(
  exampleSQUID,
  tz = "CET"
);

Convert a timestamp to a SQUID

Description

Convert a timestamp (the number of seconds that passed since the first of January, 1970) to a SQUID.

Usage

timestamp_to_squids(x)

Arguments

Value

The SQUID(s)

Examples

timestamp <-
  as.numeric(Sys.time());

squids::timestamp_to_squids(
  timestamp
);

Easily parse a vector into a character value

Description

Easily parse a vector into a character value

Usage

vecTxt(
  vector,
  delimiter = ", ",
  useQuote = "",
  firstDelimiter = NULL,
  lastDelimiter = " & ",
  firstElements = 0,
  lastElements = 1,
  lastHasPrecedence = TRUE
)

vecTxtQ(vector, useQuote = "'", ...)

Arguments

Value

A character vector of length 1.

Examples

vecTxtQ(names(mtcars));