smartabaseR: An R wrapper for the Smartabase API

smartabaseR is an R package that lets you connect R to Smartabase. At its core, smartabaseR acts as a wrapper for the Smartabase API.

sb_get_event() returns a flat export of your Smartabase data. From there you can leverage R’s rich data wrangling, statistics and machine learning capabilities.

sb_insert_event() sends data from R to Smartabase.

Installation

Install the development version of smartabaseR from GitHub with:

# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("Teamworksapp/smartabaseR")

Requirements

• smartabaseR can only be used on Smartabase versions 6.14 or greater (if your account has superadmin or site owner privileges, then smartabaseR can also be used with v6.13).

  • In 2023, Smartabase switched to calendar versioning. smartabaseR can be used on any site that uses calendar versioning e.g. 2023.1, 2023.2 etc.

• Smartabase email addresses and Smartabase usernames are NOT interchangeable when logging into Smartabase via smartabaseR. You must always supply a valid Smartabase username when prompted in smartabaseR.

Security

smartabaseR respects all the same permissions as if you were interacting with the Smartabase web app or a Smartabase mobile app. For example, if you don’t have access to a certain form in Smartabase, then you won’t have access to that form via smartabaseR. Likewise, if you have delete access to a certain form in Smartabase, then you can also delete data from that form with smartabaseR.

smartabaseR is a powerful tool. It can level up your automation and analytics processes but there is potential for damage if you have not:

1. read all the documentation
2. undertaken extensive testing before putting into production
3. reached out to your Smartabase consultant when/if you have any questions and/or concerns

Get started

It’s important to think about how you provide credentials to smartabaseR. You can read more about that here: vignette("credentials").

Usage

The two main functions of smartabaseR allow you to export/import data from/to your Smartabase site via the Smartabase API.

sb_get_event()

The sb_get_event() function allows you to export data from a specific Smartabase form into an R session:

sb_get_event(
  form = "Example Form",
  date_range = c("01/03/2023", "07/03/2023"),
  url = "example.smartabase.com/site",
  username = "example.username",
  password = "example_password"
)

sb_insert_event()

The sb_insert_event() function allows you to send data back to a Smartabase form:

sb_insert_event(
  df = data,
  form = "Example Form",
  url = "example.smartabase.com/site",
  username = "example.username",
  password = "example_password"
)

Further Reading

Browse the vignettes below for in depth details on the workflow and for details each function:

• vignette("exporting-data")
• vignette("importing-data")
• vignette("helper-functions")