Fetching Information on Forms

Overview

In this vignette, we demonstrate how to interact with the Nettskjema API to perform the following tasks: 1. Retrieve a list of all forms you have access to. 1. Download reports associated with a form.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that you have already set up authentication. If you haven’t, refer to the vignette on authentication setup.

Additionally, load the required package:

library(nettskjemar)

ns_sitrep()
#> 
#> ── Nettskjema API Sitrep ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> ✔ nettskjemar version: 1.0.3
#> 
#> ── Nettskjema API Configuration ──
#> 
#> ℹ API URL is set to: "https://nettskjema.no/api/v3/"
#> ✔ Client ID: Valid format and length.
#> ✔ Client Secret: Valid format and length.
#> 
#> ── API Connectivity ──
#> 
#> ✔ Successfully connected to API
#> ℹ Tested by fetching client profile
#> 
#> ── Environment ──
#> 
#> ✔ R version: "R version 4.5.1 (2025-06-13)"
#> ✔ OS: "Darwin" "24.6.0"
#> ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Retrieving All Available Forms

To see which forms you have access to, use the ns_get_forms function.

Example: Getting Forms

# Retrieve all forms
forms <- ns_get_forms()

head(forms)
#>   formId         title            openFrom              openTo
#> 1 123823 API test form 2023-06-01T20:55:49 2024-06-02T02:00:02
#>    lastSubmissionDate        modifiedDate personalDataErasedDate
#> 1 2023-06-01T20:59:50 2025-08-26T13:08:28                     NA
#>   deliveryDestination anonymous numberOfDeliveredSubmissions owners
#> 1            DATABASE     FALSE                            3      3
#>   isDictaphone myFormsFormListingGroup  open
#> 1        FALSE                     OLD FALSE

Retrieving Raw Form Data

If you prefer to get the raw list format as returned by the API, use asis = TRUE.

# Retrieve raw form data
raw_forms <- ns_get_forms(asis = TRUE)

# Display the raw response
print(raw_forms)
#> [[1]]
#> [[1]]$formId
#> [1] 123823
#> 
#> [[1]]$title
#> [1] "API test form"
#> 
#> [[1]]$openFrom
#> [1] "2023-06-01T20:55:49"
#> 
#> [[1]]$openTo
#> [1] "2024-06-02T02:00:02"
#> 
#> [[1]]$lastSubmissionDate
#> [1] "2023-06-01T20:59:50"
#> 
#> [[1]]$modifiedDate
#> [1] "2025-08-26T13:08:28"
#> 
#> [[1]]$personalDataErasedDate
#> NULL
#> 
#> [[1]]$deliveryDestination
#> [1] "DATABASE"
#> 
#> [[1]]$anonymous
#> [1] FALSE
#> 
#> [[1]]$numberOfDeliveredSubmissions
#> [1] 3
#> 
#> [[1]]$owners
#> [1] 3
#> 
#> [[1]]$isDictaphone
#> [1] FALSE
#> 
#> [[1]]$myFormsFormListingGroup
#> [1] "OLD"
#> 
#> [[1]]$open
#> [1] FALSE

Downloading Form Reports

Each form can have reports such as CSV, Excel, or SPSS files associated with it. Use the ns_get_form_reports function to download these reports.

Example: Download a CSV Report

#| label: csv

# Define the form ID
form_id <- 110000

# Download a CSV report to the default path
ns_get_form_reports(form_id, type = "csv")

# The report will be saved as `110000.csv` in your working directory

Example: Download an Excel Report

#| label: excel

# Download an Excel report
ns_get_form_reports(form_id, type = "excel")

Example: Save SPSS Report to a Custom Path

#| label: spss

# Specify the path you want to save the file
path <- fs::path_home("Desktop/110000_report.sav")

# Download and save the SPSS report
ns_get_form_reports(form_id, type = "spss", path = path)

Custom Output Paths

For custom output locations, make sure to provide the full file path in the path argument.