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Retrieve an entity from OSF

Source: R/osf_retrieve.R
osf_retrieve.Rd

Create an osf_tbl representation of an existing OSF project, component, file, or user based on the associated unique identifier. Usually this is a 5-character global unique identifier (GUID) but for files or directories, it could also be an 11-character Waterbutler ID. See below for details.

Usage

osf_retrieve_user(id)

osf_retrieve_node(id)

osf_retrieve_file(id)

Arguments

id

An OSF identifier corresponding to an OSF user, project, component, or file. Set id = "me" to retrieve your own OSF profile.

Value

An osf_tbl_user, osf_tbl_node, or osf_tbl_file containing the corresponding OSF entity.

OSF identifiers

A 5-character GUID is assigned to every user, project, component, and file on OSF and forms the basis for the service's URL scheme. For example the GUID for a project accessible at https://osf.io/ezum7 is simply ezum7. You can learn more about GUIDs in the OSF FAQ.

An important detail is that files and directories are handled internally on OSF by another serviced called Waterbutler, which uses 11-character identifiers. Although Waterbutler IDs are largely hidden from users on https://osf.io, they represent the primary method for identifying files/directories by the OSF API. In fact, files do not receive a GUID until it is viewed directly on https://osf.io and directories never receive a GUID. Therefore, osfr relies on Waterbutler IDs for files and directories, and always includes them (rather than GUIDs) in osf_tbl_file objects.

Retrieving OSF objects

To begin using osfr to interact with resources on OSF you must use one of the following retrieve functions to create an osf_tbl that contains the entity of interest. Note the functions are entity-type specific, use:

  • osf_retrieve_node() to retrieve a project or component

  • osf_retrieve_file() to retrieve a file or directory

  • osf_retrieve_user() to retrieve a user

A note on 3rd-party storage providers

While OSF supports integration with a variety of 3rd-party cloud storage providers, osfr can currently only access files stored on the default OSF storage service. Support for additional storage providers is planned for a future release.

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
 # retrieve your own OSF user profile (must be authenticated, ?osf_auth)
 osf_retrieve_user("me")

# retrieve the Psychology Reproducibility Project (P:RP, osf.io/ezum7)
osf_retrieve_node("ezum7")

# get the first figure from the P:RP
osf_retrieve_file("https://osf.io/7js8c")
} # }