`geocode()` and `reverse_geocode()` open a connection when none is passed, and keep it open for the next call. `open_nar()` does that up front, which is worth doing for two reasons: to name a release other than the latest, or a province subset, without repeating it at every call site; and to pay the connection cost at a moment of your choosing rather than inside the first thing you time.
It is never required. Calling nothing at all gives the same connection, just opened lazily.
Value
The connection, invisibly. Passing it explicitly as `con` is equivalent to leaving `con` unset.
Details
Once a connection is parked, a call that asks for `"latest"` gets it without asking StatCan what the latest release is. This is the intended behaviour and not an optimization detail: a release published while a script is running should not change which database that script is reading. To move to another release, name it, or [close_nar()] first.
The connection is read-only. An import that needs the write lock – [nar_connection()] with `refresh = TRUE`, [rqa_import()], [rnf_import()] – closes it first and says so; later calls reopen it.
Examples
if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
open_nar()
geocode("100 Queen St W, Toronto, ON")
reverse_geocode(c(-79.383, 43.653))
close_nar()
# A specific release, for the rest of the session.
open_nar(version = "2025-12")
} # }