Savewidget to default browser location not working directory

[john_doe]

I've deployed my first large modular app to our company's Rconnect server. Great.

Now, rightly 20 out of the 250 users are asking me why I did not include a save functionality for the fancy DT
datatables I've built for them.

I wanted to do provide both an html file via DT::saveWidget and a PNG to allow my users to use the tables in reports etc.

So, I used an actionbutton in the module's server side:

observeEvent( input$downloadFigure, {
dat_dat <- DT::datatable(dat)
DT::saveWidget(dat_dat, 'foo.html')
}
but that just saves the widget to my own working directory which is hosted on an S3 instance etc. How can I send the file 'foo.html' to the users' browser default save location?

Separately, is it possible to also create a png file with only the widget (i.e. not the remaining webpage?)

I already use the DT buttons to download data and pdfs with no formatting or complex color-coding but I need the entire form/structure not just the values.

[ginberg]

@john_doe congrats that you have deployed your large app on RStudio Connect!
About downloading the html file to the user's browser location: you can use a downloadhandler for this. See below for an example how you could do this.

library(shiny)
library(DT)

ui <- fluidPage(
  downloadLink("downloadData", "Download")
)

server <- function(input, output) {
  output$downloadData <- downloadHandler(
    filename = function() {
      "foo.html"
    },
    content = function(file) {
            dat_dat <- DT::datatable(mtcars,
                               options = list(
                                 initComplete = JS(
                                   "function(settings, json) {",
                                   "$(this.api().table().header()).css({'background-color': '#000', 'color': '#fff'});",
                                   "}")))
      DT::saveWidget(dat_dat, file)
    }
  )
}
shinyApp(ui, server)

[john_doe]

Thank you for your response. I implemented your suggestion but unfortunately the html file does not retain any of the colors/format of the table - which is the only reason I needed this solution. Wouldn't converting to PNG, SVG or PDF help with the datatable retaining the colors, and other elements?

Would a png / webshot solution enable this?

[ginberg]

I am not sure why it doesn't pick up the styling in your application. I have updated my example with a colored header, which does appear in the html file.

Maybe you can create a reproducible example?

A webshot/appshot could work but I think you can only create a PNG for the whole application and not just one component.