Major ETN update: you can now use it on your own computer.

[PietrH]

UNDER CONSTRUCTION - DO NOT MERGE

See #417 and github.com/inbo/etn/milestones/8

• Up version number

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AI Summary

This pull request introduces significant updates to the etn package, focusing on modernizing its architecture, improving usability, and enhancing compatibility and reproducibility. The package now defaults to connecting via an API (using the etnservice package), deprecates direct database connection management, and streamlines credentials handling. Several dependencies and functions have been updated or removed, and documentation and citation information have been revised to reflect these changes.

Major architectural and usability changes:

• The package now connects to the ETN database via an API using the etnservice package, with automatic switching to a local database connection if available. The connection argument is deprecated, and users are prompted for credentials if not stored in the environment. The connect_to_etn() function is also deprecated and now issues a warning instead of establishing a connection. [1] [2] [3] [4]
• Several deprecated functions (get_deployments(), get_detections(), get_projects(), get_receivers(), list_network_project_codes()) have been removed from the package. [1] [2]

Dependency and environment management:

• The package dependencies have been updated: new imports include arrow, askpass, cachem, cli, etnservice, httr2, lifecycle, memoise, prettyunits, rlang, and utils. Some dependencies (e.g., DBI, odbc, jsonlite, lubridate) have been removed or moved to Suggests. The Remotes field now includes GitHub sources for etnservice and vcr.
• The GitHub Actions workflow now tests with R 4.1.0 (the minimum supported version) and passes new environment variables for credentials and VCR control.

Documentation and citation updates:

• The NEWS.md file has been updated to document all major changes, including new connection logic, credential management, deprecations, and new features.
• The CITATION.cff file has been updated to reflect the new version, update the preferred citation, and revise software references to match the updated dependencies. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Miscellaneous improvements:

• A .gitattributes file was added to standardize text handling and ignore diffs in test fixtures.

These changes collectively modernize the etn package, improve user experience, and ensure consistency between API and local database queries.

References:
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]