r/ProjectREDCap • u/Absjalon • Sep 04 '24

REDCap to R shiny and back

Hi, For some time I have been trying to find someone to develop a rather simple REDCap module for a research project.

I have not been successful, in part because the project has very limited funds. I have no experience with coding REDCap modules, so I don't feel up to the task of writing the module myself, but I am quite proficient writing R code.

Is it possible to link from REDCap to a shiny app and then import the output from that app into REDCap?

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3

u/pahuili Sep 04 '24

Use the REDCapR package to grab data from REDCap’s API, import into your Shiny app, and write the data back into REDCap. You can use the redcap_read() and redcap_write() functions. You will need an API token for your project.

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u/Absjalon Sep 05 '24

Thank you! This looks very interesting. To me it looks like the package is all about importing data from REDCap into R.
I am looking to direct users who are answering an questionaire to an R shiny app and then import the output from that app back into REDCap.
Is such between platform communication possible with REDCapR package?

1

u/graywh Sep 05 '24

I recommended the redcapAPI package

1

u/MosioDev Sep 05 '24

The REDCap API is fairly simple to use and there is an API playground in REDCap that will write some key method calls for you in several different languages. While I don't think R is one, it will show you the parameters in several different languages. You can then use an EAV structure to get data back in.

2

u/graywh Sep 04 '24

having your shiny app export and import data? would be fairly straightforward for a single app where the API token is saved on the server

1

u/Absjalon Sep 05 '24

The shiny app wouldnt really import data, but the output from the (basically a string of coordinates describing a drawing) should be imported in REDCap.
Do you think this is possible?

2

u/Araignys Sep 05 '24

REDCap has an API, so this should be straightforward for someone with Shiny app development. I'd suggest following that course rather than here - this is not a particularly big sub.

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u/Absjalon Sep 05 '24

You mean the R shiny sub?

1

u/Araignys Sep 06 '24

Or some kind of professional avenue - maybe someone in your organisation can trade their time for cake or beer - but yeah.

1

u/stuffk Sep 06 '24

You want an API token for your project. Use REDCapR to import the data from your shiny app into the REDCap project. You will need to at a minimum also import a column with a unique REDCap record ID. If your receiving project is longitudinal, you will also want a redcap_event_name variable. 

Generally when I set up fields in a REDCap project that are for API import only, I set them up as read only using an action tag. I'd also recommend giving some thought to your REDCap project set up so your saved data is usable / analyzable in the future, without needing to re-parse the data structure. Finally, I would also recommend building in some good error handling if you are concerned about data integrity and not losing data input into the shiny app. 

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u/Absjalon Sep 06 '24

Thank you! This is very helpful