Download data from GitHub

The data for each lab is stored in the course GitHub repository, in the data folder. Download the folder for each lab at the start of that week, rather than all the data at once, so you always have the latest version. Save it inside the data folder of your course folder, so that the relative paths in the lab code work (see the set-up page for R or Python).

Important

Where you save the data matters. Each lab reads its files with a relative path such as "data/London/Tables/Densities_UK_cities.csv". That path only works if your course folder looks like this:

envs363_563/
├── data/
│   └── London/
│       └── ...
└── lab_01.qmd  (or lab_01.ipynb)

Download one data folder

GitHub doesn’t let you download a single folder directly, so we use download-directory.github.io, a free tool that packages a GitHub folder into a zip file.

1. On GitHub, open the data folder you need for your lab and copy its address from your browser’s address bar. For example, for the London data: https://github.com/GDSL-UL/gds/tree/main/data/London

   

   Copying the address of a data folder on GitHub

2. Go to https://download-directory.github.io, paste the address into the box and press Enter. The download starts automatically once the zip file is ready. Larger folders can take a few minutes, so keep the tab open.

   

   Pasting the folder address into download-directory

3. Find the zip file in your Downloads folder and unzip it:

   • Windows: right-click the file and choose Extract All. Don’t just double-click it: Windows lets you look inside a zip file without extracting it, but R cannot read files from there.
   • macOS: double-click the file. Safari may unzip it for you automatically.

   

   The unzipped folder in Downloads

4. Move the unzipped folder into the data folder of your course folder, and rename it if needed so it matches the name used in the lab (e.g. London, not gds-main-data-London). If you already have a folder with that name from an earlier lab, replace it with the new one.

5. Check that it’s in the right place: in RStudio, open the Files pane and navigate to data/London. You should see the lab files inside it, not another folder with the same name.

If download-directory doesn’t work

If download-directory stalls or gives an error, wait a few minutes and try again: GitHub limits how many requests the tool can make in a short time, so it usually works on a second attempt. If a folder only has a few files, you can also download them one by one: open each file on GitHub and click the Download raw file button (the download arrow at the top right of the file view), then save it in the right folder inside data.

Warning

Don’t download the whole repository once at the start of term and reuse it. Data folders may be updated during the course (for example, to fix a file or add data for a lab), and an old copy may no longer match the lab code. Download the folder for each lab when you start that lab, so you always have the latest version.