export_static_survey: Export a self-contained static HTML survey

In surveyframe: Survey Instrument Workflows

Export a self-contained static HTML survey

Description

Generates a single HTML file that presents the survey instrument in a browser without requiring a Shiny server or any internet connection. All thirteen item types, branching logic, required-field validation, and multi-page navigation are handled entirely in client-side JavaScript.

Usage

export_static_survey(
  instrument,
  output_path = NULL,
  open = interactive(),
  endpoint_url = NULL,
  overwrite = FALSE
)

Arguments

instrument	An sframe object.
output_path	Character. File path for the output HTML. When NULL, a ⁠<survey_title>.html⁠ file is written in tempdir().
open	Logical. If TRUE (default) and the session is interactive, the file is opened in the default browser after writing.
endpoint_url	Character or NULL. A URL to which responses are POSTed as JSON on submission. When NULL, CSV download is the only collection mechanism.
overwrite	Logical. Whether to overwrite an existing file at output_path. Defaults to FALSE.

Details

When output_path is NULL, the file is written to tempdir(). Supply an explicit output_path for any production export that should be kept.

When a respondent clicks the submit button, the browser downloads a one-row CSV file named ⁠<survey_title>_response_<id>.csv⁠. If endpoint_url is supplied, the same payload is also sent as a JSON POST request to that URL (for example a Google Apps Script web app or a serverless function). The two mechanisms are independent: the download happens regardless, so responses are never lost if the POST fails.

The exported file works offline. It can be hosted on GitHub Pages, Netlify, any static file server, or e-mailed as an attachment for opening directly from disk.

Value

The output path, invisibly.

See Also

launch_studio(), launch_builder(), render_survey()

Examples

cs    <- sf_choices("ag5", 1:5,
           c("Strongly disagree", "Disagree", "Neutral",
             "Agree", "Strongly agree"))
i1    <- sf_item("sat_1", "Overall I am satisfied with the service.",
                 type = "likert", choice_set = "ag5", required = TRUE)
i2    <- sf_item("comments", "Any additional comments?", type = "textarea")
instr <- sf_instrument("Customer Satisfaction Survey",
                       components = list(cs, i1, i2))

# Write to a temp file without opening the browser
out <- export_static_survey(instr,
                             output_path = file.path(tempdir(), "sat.html"),
                             open = FALSE)
file.exists(out)


# Write to a temp file and open in the default browser
export_static_survey(instr,
                     output_path = file.path(tempdir(), "sat_browser.html"),
                     overwrite = TRUE)

# Write with a Google Apps Script endpoint for server-side collection
export_static_survey(
  instr,
  output_path  = file.path(tempdir(), "sat_endpoint.html"),
  endpoint_url = "https://script.google.com/macros/s/XXXXX/exec",
  open         = FALSE,
  overwrite    = TRUE
)

surveyframe documentation built on July 25, 2026, 1:07 a.m.