Overview
Nettskjema allows users to upload attachments with their form submissions. This vignette explains how to use the functions provided in this package to list, retrieve, and save these attachments efficiently.
Listing Attachments
Before downloading any attachments, it’s useful to list the available files.
Listing attachments for a specific submission
Each submission ID may have associated attachments. Use
ns_list_submission_attachments() to retrieve information
about the available attachments.
library(nettskjemar)
# Example: List attachments for a specific submission
submission_id <- 27685292
ns_list_submission_attachments(submission_id)
#> submissionId answerId elementId
#> 1 27685292 158263134 1641713
#> externalElementId textAnswer
#> 1 attachment_1 sølvi.png
#> answerAttachmentId filename
#> 1 538819 sølvi.png
#> mediaType size elementType
#> 1 image/png 628613 ATTACHMENT
#> attachment.answerAttachmentId
#> 1 538819
#> attachment.filename
#> 1 sølvi.png
#> attachment.mediaType attachment.size
#> 1 image/png 628613
#> counter
#> 1 1This function returns a data.frame with details such as
the attachment ID, original filename, and standardized filename.
Listing all attachments for a form
To list all attachments across multiple submissions for a form, use
ns_list_form_attachments().
# Example: List attachments for an entire form
formid <- 123823
ns_list_form_attachments(formid)
#> formid formId submissionId
#> 16 123823 123823 27685292
#> 32 123823 123823 27685302
#> answerId elementId
#> 16 158263134 1641713
#> 32 158263185 3525020
#> externalElementId textAnswer
#> 16 attachment_1 sølvi.png
#> 32 attachment_2 marius.jpeg
#> answerOptionIds
#> 16
#> 32
#> externalAnswerOptionIds elementType
#> 16 ATTACHMENT
#> 32 ATTACHMENT
#> createdDate
#> 16 2023-06-01T20:57:15
#> 32 2023-06-01T20:58:33
#> modifiedDate subElementId
#> 16 2023-06-01T20:57:15 NA
#> 32 2023-06-01T20:58:33 NA
#> answerAttachmentId filename
#> 16 538819 sølvi.png
#> 32 538820 marius.jpeg
#> mediaType size
#> 16 image/png 628613
#> 32 image/jpeg 89494
#> attachment.answerAttachmentId
#> 16 538819
#> 32 538820
#> attachment.filename
#> 16 sølvi.png
#> 32 marius.jpeg
#> attachment.mediaType
#> 16 image/png
#> 32 image/jpeg
#> attachment.size counter
#> 16 628613 1
#> 32 89494 1Downloading Attachments
Once you have identified the attachments, you can download them using
ns_get_attachment().
# Example: Download a single attachment
attachment_id <- "12345"
ns_get_attachment(attachment_id, path = "downloaded_file.pdf")If path is not provided, the function returns the
response object without saving the file.
Saving All Attachments
For a Single Submission
Use ns_get_submission_attachments() to download and save
all attachments associated with a single submission.
# Example: Save all attachments for a submission
ns_get_submission_attachments(submission_id)This function supports two filename conventions:
- “standardized” (default): Creates filenames based on submission ID and a counter.
- “original”: Uses the filenames as they were uploaded.
To save attachments using the original filenames:
ns_get_submission_attachments(submission_id, filenames = "original")You can also specify an output directory:
ns_get_submission_attachments(submission_id, output_dir = "my_attachments/")For an Entire Form
To download and save all attachments from a form:
ns_get_form_attachments(formid)As with submission attachments, you can specify a filename format and output directory:
ns_get_form_attachments(formid, filenames = "original", output_dir = "all_attachments/")