Using R to download zipped data file, extract, and import .csv

Question

I am trying to download and extract a .csv file from a webpage using R. This question is a duplicate of Using R to download zipped data file, extract, and import data. I cannot get the solution to work, but it may be due to the web address i am using. I am trying to download the .csv files from http://data.worldbank.org/country/united-kingdom (under the download data drop down) Using @Dirk's solution from the link above, i tried ``` temp <- tempfile() download.file("http://api.worldbank.org/v2/en/country/gbr?downloadformat=csv",temp) con <- unz(temp, "gbr_Country_en_csv_v2.csv") dat <- read.table(con, header=T, skip=2) unlink(temp) ``` I got the extended link by looking at the page source code, which I expect is causing the problems, although it works if i paste it into the address bar. The file downloads with the correct Gb ``` download.file("http://api.worldbank.org/v2/en/country/gbr?downloadformat=csv",temp) # trying URL 'http://api.worldbank.org/v2/en/country/gbr?downloadformat=cs…

Accepted Answer

In order to get your data to download and uncompress, you need to set `mode="wb"`

```
download.file("...",temp, mode="wb")
unzip(temp, "gbr_Country_en_csv_v2.csv")
dd <- read.table("gbr_Country_en_csv_v2.csv", sep=",",skip=2, header=T)
```

It looks like the default is "w" which assumes a text files. If it was a plain csv file this would be fine. But since it's compressed, it's a binary file, hence the "wb". Without the "wb" part, you can't open the zip at all.

Using R to download zipped data file, extract, and import .csv

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