Best way to get a file's URL

Greg,

I'm trying to synch a desktop application UI with Dropbox and I started by getting a third party control that is a tree folder control.  How sure are you that Dropbox's storage is not mirrored on my machine? 

1. Do you have a code sample for listFolder if all I have is a path from my computer?  Do I have enough information on my end to get metadata from Dropbox for a particular item?
2. Do you have a code sample for getting file metadata?

Thank you.

If you use the official Dropbox desktop client, it will sync the contents of your Dropbox account to your local filesystem. Note that your local filesystem doesn't use the same path format as the remote Dropbox API though. For example, Dropbox API paths uses '/' as a separator, and not '\'.

1. The Dropbox API isn't really meant for use based on file paths originating from your local filesystem like this. It provides the entire file listing for your from the API itself. E.g., using listFolder as shown here:

https://github.com/dropbox/dropbox-sdk-dotnet/blob/9803a40b3169acf66a2d14e29af8750ebe6e3e17/dropbox-sdk-dotnet/Examples/SimpleTest/Program.cs#L267

(If you need to list the root Dropbox folder, using the empty string "" as the path.)

You can technically convert a local filesystem path, though I don't have sample code for that. For instance though, you can find the local Dropbox folder using this:

https://help.dropbox.com/desktop-web/locate-dropbox-folder

Then, you can strip off the local folder root, and convert the path as necessary. (E.g., from '\" separators to "/".)

2. The listFolder method as above will return metadata, but you can also retrieve individual file metadata using GetMetadata as shown here:

https://github.com/dropbox/dropbox-sdk-dotnet/blob/9803a40b3169acf66a2d14e29af8750ebe6e3e17/dropbox-sdk-dotnet/Dropbox.Api.Tests/DropboxApiTests.cs#L91

I have exactly the same question, but I'm writing native iOS application in ObjC.

I searched, but can't find a way to get the temporary link for a file. I found mysterious `DBFILESGetTemporaryLink` and `DBFILESGetTemporaryLinkArg`, but I don't know how to use them.

I just need an external URL for a file in Dropbox — don't want to download it to a temporary location or data in memory.

Pash237 In the Dropbox API v2 Objective-C SDK, you would use the DBFILESUserAuthRoutes -getTemporaryLink: method:

https://dropbox.github.io/dropbox-sdk-obj-c/api-docs/latest/Classes/DBFILESUserAuthRoutes.html#/c:objc(cs)DBFILESUserAuthRoutes(im)getTemporaryLink:

That's an RPC-style method, so it would be used the same way as the createFolder example here:

https://github.com/dropbox/dropbox-sdk-obj-c#rpc-style-request

(I.e., `[[client.filesRoutes getTemporaryLink...`)

Thanks, it works!

[[client.filesRoutes getTemporaryLink:path]
   setResponseBlock:^(DBFILESGetTemporaryLinkResult *result, DBFILESGetTemporaryLinkError *routeError, DBRequestError *networkError) {
      if (result) {
         NSLog(@"Got URL for Dropbox file: %@", result.link);
      }
   }];

Hello Greg i have the same problem with this error : "{"Value should match pattern '\\A(?:(/(.|[\\r\\n])*|id:.*)|(rev:[0-9a-f]{9,})|(ns:[0-9]+(/.*)?))\\z'\r\nParameter name: path"}"

heres my code:

try
{
       var result = await dbx.Sharing.CreateSharedLinkWithSettingsAsync(@"E:/Dropbox/iCodesStorageDropbox/H11018304_MMCH/CF1-         TR18-0000005-121212-JOSESAPANZAAMIDO.enc", null);
       var url = result.Url;
       MessageBox.Show(url);
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
        MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString());
}

iCodes I see you also opened another thread for this so I'll follow up there:

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/API-Support-Feedback/HELP/m-p/283564#M17366