webdav
A Simple Interface for Interacting with 'WebDAV' Servers
An easy-to-use interface for interacting with 'WebDAV' servers, including 'OwnCloud'. It simplifies the use of 'WebDAV' methods such as COPY, MOVE, DELETE and others. With built-in authentication and request handling, it allows for easy management of files and directories over the 'WebDAV' protocol.
WebDAV
WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning) is an extension of the HTTP protocol that allows users to collaboratively edit and manage files stored on remote web servers. It provides a framework for users to create, delete, copy, move, and download files.
Examples of WebDAV Servers
Some platforms that implement WebDAV are:
- OwnCloud: A popular open-source platform for storing and sharing files, commonly used by organizations.
- NextCloud: A fork of OwnCloud that focuses on user-friendly interfaces and collaborative file-sharing features.
- mod_dav for Apache HTTP servers: Adds WebDAV support to the Apache web server.
- Microsoft SharePoint: Uses WebDAV for file management over the web.
Installation
Install the released version from CRAN:
install.packages("webdav")
Or the development version from GitHub:
# install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("StrategicProjects/webdav")
Functions
| Function | WebDAV method | Description |
|---|---|---|
webdav_create_request() |
— | Build an authenticated httr2 request for the server |
webdav_list_files() |
PROPFIND | List files and folders as a tibble |
webdav_upload_file() |
PUT | Upload a local file (streamed from disk) |
webdav_download_file() |
GET | Download a file (streamed to disk) |
webdav_create_directory() |
MKCOL | Create a collection (directory) |
webdav_copy_file() |
COPY | Copy a resource |
webdav_move_file() |
MOVE | Move or rename a resource |
webdav_delete_resource() |
DELETE | Delete a file or directory |
Quick start
Credentials default to the WEBDAV_USERNAME and WEBDAV_PASSWORD
environment variables (see vignette("env_variables")):
library(webdav)
base_url <- "https://cloud.example.com/remote.php/dav/files/user"
# List what's there
webdav_list_files(base_url, folder_path = "Documents")
# Upload, rename, download, clean up
webdav_upload_file(base_url, local_path = "report.pdf", server_path = "Documents")
webdav_move_file(base_url,
from_path = "Documents/report.pdf",
to_path = "Documents/report-2026.pdf")
webdav_download_file(base_url,
file_path = "Documents/report-2026.pdf",
destination_path = tempdir())
webdav_delete_resource(base_url, resource_path = "Documents/report-2026.pdf")
Invalid arguments raise an error; network or server failures issue a
warning and return FALSE (NULL for webdav_list_files()), so
scripts can test the return value instead of wrapping calls in
tryCatch().