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Forum Discussion
Can dropbox replace existing FTP process
Hello,
We are currently using FTP to share file with external vendor. The file is generated via scheduled batch job and placed in the FTP location for external vendor to download and process it fur...
Walter
Dropbox Community Moderator
Dropbox Community ModeratorHey there Dipesh (dbagadia) - how are you today?
From what I understand you'd like to know how you can go about automate or schedule the sharing of files (or folders) with users that are outside of your Dropbox for Business Team (on the Advanced plan as you mentioned), as you'd like to determine if you'd be keeping your FTP server working as well moving forward - correct me if I got anything wrong please.
Keep in mind that Dropbox lets anyone back up, share and access files easily while there's no need to manually log in to a server and wait for files to upload one by one, like with FTP hosting. Dropbox makes transferring files from anywhere simple. For a list of our requirements please take a look here: https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/desktop/system-requirements
Note that with Dropbox you can use -apart from team folders- shared folders, shared links and even file requests to share with users that are inside or outside your team. As you're on the Advanced plan, you can also set permissions on your shared links.
You can have a look at these options below:
For Shared Folders:
https://help.dropbox.com/files-folders/share/share-with-others
For Shared links:
https://help.dropbox.com/files-folders/share/view-only-access
For File Requests:
https://help.dropbox.com/files-folders/share/create-file-request &
https://help.dropbox.com/files-folders/share/received-file-request
Lastly, if you're looking to connect your FTP server and your Dropbox account to copy files back and forth automatically some enterprise content migration platforms can let you easily streamline this process. You can feel free to look for a solution that might suit your needs here: https://www.dropbox.com/app-integrations
I hope this information helps to some extent and please let me know if you have any questions!
Hi Walter,
Thanks for the response. I understand that I will be able to upload file and share it programatically. However, please advise if the vendor will be able to download the file (programatically via scheduled batch job). If yes, then please share what changes needs to be done on the vendor side.
Note: Currently vendor connects to FTP via script, download the file and uses it for further processing.
Regards,
Dipesh Bagadia
- Walter
I'm not sure how this setup works exactly and I won't be able to further advise on this but if you choose to share a folder with them, they'll need to accept the invitation and have a Dropbox account (and the needed quota) to accommodate it.
In this way, any changes they make on their end will be reflected on your end as well within the shared folder whether you use the website, our desktop app or the mobile application.
In case they don't even have a Dropbox account and you choose to share a link with them with view rights only, they'd need to access the shared link in question, download the files on their machine(s) and work on the files locally. Once they're done with their edits, they can upload the files back to your own account via a File request which you'd need to have opened from your end.
I hope this helps to some extent!
Hi Walter,
Please advise if there are APIs to upload/download a file. If APIs are available, then I can design the future process as below:
1) Write a program/code to upload the file using the Dropbox API (this program can be scheduled to run every day @ 10:00 PM). This file will be uploaded in a shared folder.
2) The external party can write a program to download the file using the Dropbox API (this program can be scheduled to run every day @ 11:00 PM). The file will be downloaded from the shared folder
If this is possible, then I can share the sample program to download the file with external party so that they don't have to write the program for the same.
Regards,
Dipesh Bagadia
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