Fetch raw course data for a department from Stanford ExploreCourses API

Makes a direct API call to retrieve all courses for a specific department and academic year from Stanford's ExploreCourses system. Returns the raw XML response without processing.

Usage

fetch_department_courses_raw(name, year = NULL)

Arguments

name

Character string. Department code (e.g., "CS" for Computer Science). Must be a valid Stanford department code.

year

Character string or NULL. Academic year in format YYYYYYYY (e.g., "20232024"). If NULL, defaults to current academic year. Will be validated using validate_academic_year().

Value

An xml2::xml_document object containing the raw courses XML. The XML structure includes:

• Root courses element containing multiple course elements

• Each course element contains:

  • Basic course information (ID, title, description)

  • Units information

  • Section data

  • Schedule information

  • Instructor details

Details

This function:

1. Validates the academic year format

2. Constructs the API URL using COURSE_ENDPOINT template

3. Makes the API request for course data

The API returns all active courses for the specified department, including detailed information about:

• Course metadata (title, description, units)

• Sections and components

• Meeting schedules

• Instructor information

API Endpoint

Uses the COURSE_ENDPOINT template, which expands to:

https://explorecourses.stanford.edu/search?view=xml-20140630
  &academicYear={year}
  &q={name}
  &filter-departmentcode-{name}=on
  &filter-coursestatus-Active=on

Filters

The API request automatically includes filters for:

• Department code match

• Active courses only

See also

• validate_academic_year() for year format validation

• make_api_request() for the underlying API request

• process_courses_xml() for processing this XML data

• fetch_department_courses() for the high-level interface

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# Get current year CS courses
cs_xml <- fetch_department_courses_raw("CS")

# Get specific year Math courses
math_xml <- fetch_department_courses_raw("MATH", "20232024")
} # }