@sybandrew, thanks for providing so much detail. There's a chance that it's not a difference in R, but a difference in the packages. Will you please update all the packages (update.packages()) and install the newest version of REDCapR on GitHub (remotes::install_github(repo="OuhscBbmc/REDCapR"))? You should restart RStudio first.

If the problem still remains, can you please tell me your version of REDCap, and the results of traceback()?

Hello,
I followed your instructions. See photo REDCapR photo 5

I still got the error. Please see image REDCapR photo 4.

The version of REDCapR is ‘REDCapR’ version 0.10.2.9002

Thank you

Cool. A few more questions

1. What version of REDCap?
2. Are all the packages updated (with update.packages())?
3. Did this ever work? If so, when did it stop working?
4. What institution are you?
5. What are the results of REDCapR::redcap_metadata_read()?
6. If the metadata fails, can you send me your data dictionary? (email [email protected])

This might be related to an issue from yesterday (#269)

1. What version of REDCap?
   The version of REDCap being used is 9.3.3 which was recently updated last month

2. Are all the packages updated (with update.packages())?
   Yes, all the packages were updated using update.packages(). However, I always check for updates so none appeared. See first image. However, I did it again and ran a traceback, please see second image

3. Did this ever work? If so, when did it stop working?
   Yes, this function did work at one point for users but I am not sure when it stopped working.

4. What institution are you?
   I am a REDCap administrator at CHOP (Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia)

5. What are the results of REDCapR::redcap_metadata_read()?
   I still get an error with this as well. See image below

6. If the metadata fails, can you send me your data dictionary? (email [email protected])
   I am waiting for permission from a client to send you their data dictionary. Once, I get an answer I will email you.

Thank you.

This wasn't the original source of the problem, but could you

1. remove the arguments from redcap_metadata_read(), besides the uri and token? The events isn't a parameter of the metadata.
2. if that works, add the fields parameter back, and see what happens.

Good morning,
I did that and got the same error, see image below. I had previously did this during my trouble shooting with functions redcap_metadata_read and redcap_read to see if the field or eventnames may have been the issue.

I also ran a traceback(), see image below.

I sent you an email with the error I found along with some questions. Thanks

@sybandrew and I worked on this and determined that the problematic character in the data dictionary was a curly single quote (as opposed to a straight curly quote). This is very similar to the issue (and solution) raised by @vortexing in #269 two days before this one.

The solution to #269 also fixed this guy. As a precaution, we included a different type of curly/slanty single quote in the test suite, so a regression bug is less likely.

If someone in the future comes across a character that causes problem, please follow my request in
#269 (comment):

If anyone encounters something similar, please consider

1. creating a new issue that references this one (ie, include the text "Issue redcap_metadata_read, "object 'ds' not found"  #269")
2. in the issue, attach the your data dictionary, I'll isolate the problematic fields and include them in the live version of problematic-dictionary.csv. If you're uncomfortable sharing your dictionary with the world, either (a) isolate the fields yourself before attaching it, or (b) email it to me.

If we can't find a way for REDCapR to gracefully adapt, we'll at least try to provide a better error message.

Here are some screenshots of how the curly quote looks in REDCap and in the dictionary (viewed as vanilla csv)

Here is a description that distinguishes the types of quotes.

https://practicaltypography.com/straight-and-curly-quotes.html

Note that what is good with humans is trickier for computers.