dataforge 0.0.4

Tools for creating and packaging data products

Note

Tested with Python 3.7.

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

Contents

• Installation

• Configuration

• REDCap

Installation

Note

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

Dataforge uses xmarshal, which is compiled using Cython. Thus, prior to installation, you will need a C compiler:

Linux

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Mac OS X

Install Apple’s XCode from the App Store

Windows

Install Microsoft’s C++ Build Tools

To install dataforge:

pip install dataforge

Configuration

For ease of use, many arguments and options for executable commands as well as many function arguments may be specified in a file called config.yaml located at the root of your project. For example, you could specify arguments and options for the redcap_export command by creating a config.yaml file containing something like this:

sources.redcap.api:
    url: https://redcap.uchicago.edu/api/
    project_name: MyREDCapProject
    outdir: tmp/redcap

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.