R/create_cso_search_url.R

In cormac85/datakindr: Tools And Utilities for DataKind

#' Convenience function to generate a correct StatBank search URL
#'
#' @param search_term A search term used to get CSO datasets.
#' @param offset The offset at which to retrieve the subsequent 15 dataset names.
#' @return A valid URL for searching StatBank datasets.
#' @keywords internal
#'

create_cso_search_url <- function(search_term, offset){
  if (search_term == ""){
    stop("No search term supplied.")
  }

  if (offset < 0){
    stop("Can't have a negative offset.")
  }

  request_part_1 <- "http://www.cso.ie/px/pxeirestat/statire/search2003/searchresult.asp?place=statbank&Planguage=0&searchin=1&searchtext="
  request_part_2 <- "&forward=true&offset="
  request_part_3 <- "&showand=true"

  # replace spaces with URL encoding in search term
  search_term <-
    gsub(" ", "%20", search_term)
  paste0(request_part_1, search_term, request_part_2, offset, request_part_3)
}