Skip to contents

Download a resource file

Source: R/resources.R
nhsbsa_download_resource.Rd

Resolves a single resource within a dataset and streams its file to disk. This is the file-download counterpart to the datastore row-query functions (nhsbsa_datastore_search() and friends): it fetches the whole resource file (e.g. a CSV) rather than running a query.

Usage

nhsbsa_download_resource(
  dataset_id,
  directory,
  resource_id = NULL,
  pattern = NULL,
  overwrite = FALSE,
  quiet = FALSE
)

Arguments

dataset_id

Character scalar. The dataset identifier, as returned by nhsbsa_package_list().

directory

Character scalar. The directory to download into. Required; there is no default, and the directory must already exist. Use tempdir() for a throwaway location.

resource_id

Character scalar. The identifier of the resource to download. Takes precedence over pattern.

pattern

Character scalar. A regular expression matched (case-insensitively) against resource names to select a single resource.

overwrite

Logical. Overwrite the file if it already exists in directory? Defaults to FALSE, in which case the existing file is left untouched and its path returned.

quiet

Logical. Suppress informational messages? Defaults to FALSE.

Value

The path to the downloaded file, invisibly.

Details

Exactly one resource must be identified. Supply either resource_id or a pattern that matches a single resource name; if neither is given and the dataset has more than one resource, an error is raised.

The file is saved into directory under its own name (the file name from the resource's download URL, e.g. bnf_code_current_202503_version_88.csv).

See also

nhsbsa_list_resources() to discover resources.

Examples

resources <- nhsbsa_list_resources("bnf-code-information-current-year")

# Identify a resource by a pattern matching a single resource name
path <- nhsbsa_download_resource(
  "bnf-code-information-current-year",
  pattern = resources$name[[1]],
  directory = tempdir()
)
#> ℹ Downloading "BNF_CODE_CURRENT_202503_VERSION_88" to
#>   /tmp/RtmpdHe2hU/bnf_code_current_202503_version_88.csv.
path
#> [1] "/tmp/RtmpdHe2hU/bnf_code_current_202503_version_88.csv"

# ...or by its exact id. An existing file is not re-downloaded unless
# `overwrite = TRUE`, so this call short-circuits and returns the path.
nhsbsa_download_resource(
  "bnf-code-information-current-year",
  resource_id = resources$id[[1]],
  directory = tempdir()
)
#> ℹ /tmp/RtmpdHe2hU/bnf_code_current_202503_version_88.csv already exists;
#>   skipping download.
#> ℹ Set `overwrite = TRUE` to download it again.