dataforge 0.0.1

Tools for creating and packaging data products

Note

Tested with Python 3.7.

Data forge is a Python package containing tools for creating and packaging data products.

Installation

Installation in a virtual environment of the type created by the venv module or virtualenv is highly recommended.

To install:

pip install --install-option="--with-openssl" --install-option="--openssl-dir=/usr/local/opt/openssl" pycurl
pip install --editable .

Windows

Windows C++ build tools for Visual Studio

REDCap

Management of API Tokens

To access a REDCap project via the API, you will need to obtain a REDCap API token. To avoid having to enter the token each time you export data, it is convenient to add the token to your system keyring. You may do this with the following command:

keyring set <redcap_hostname> [<project_name>]

where <redcap_hostname> is the hostname of your REDCap server (e.g., redcap.uchicago.edu) and <project_name> is an abbreviated (no spaces) name of the REDCap project (e.g., MyREDCapProject). Although specifying a project name is not required, doing so will allow you to store API tokens for multiple projects. When you are asked to enter a password, enter the API token you obtained for your project.

Warning

Do not store your API token in a plaintext or otherwise unencrypted file, and do not write it down on a piece of paper. If another person were to obtain your API token, he or she would have the same access to your REDCap project as you do. If there is ever a possibility that your token has been compromised, you should immediately regenerate your token.

SSL/TLS Certificate Chain

If pycurl is reporting certificate problems when using the redcap_export command, then you may have to supply a different certificate chain. For example, at the moment https://redcap.uchicago.edu/ has a certificate chain containing an expired certificate; although this will work with modern web browsers, it fails with OpenSSL 1.0.x. See the following links for more information:

• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/62107431/curl-error-60-ssl-certificate-problem-certificate-has-expired

• https://whatsmychaincert.com

In particular, the second link will permit you to download a chain without the expired certificate.