Creating a syncing folder in the Dropbox Desktop folder with Node JS

Ok, this is what I've got...

 

An electron app that, when online, uses the official Dropbox Javascript SDK to read the files and folders from a Team folder on Dropbox.

 

Say you lose internet half way through use (this is unlikely I know, but the app has a separate mobile format that will be used primarily out and about in rural areas).... the app can no longer use the dropbox javascript sdk so it switches to reading from the local Dropbox Desktop folder using node js... no internet connection required.

 

So far so good... I've done all the above successfully without issue.

 

Now the final step is for the user, when online, to be able to choose which folders they want to be able to see nad browse in the offline version of the app (due to space issues on iPad and the sheer volume of data we're talking about, a default 'sync everything' through the dropbox Desktop app isn't an option). So the app displays the full folder and file structure using the dropbox JS SDK with an option for each to 'make available offline'. When this is selected for a file, no problem... I retrieve the file through the Dropbox JS SDK and write it to the appropriate folder (assuming it exists) in the local Dropbox Desktop folder, using node js. But the user can also choose a folder to make available offline. Currently I have successfully managed to go through the folder, getting all the folders and files it contains, int eh correct structure, using the Dropbox JS SDK, recreate the folders in the LOCAL Dropbox Desktop folder using Node js and writing the files in the way previously described... but here's the problem... These freshly created folders aren't set to sync by default. If I create a new folder manually in the local Dropbox Desktop folder, however, it does!

 

That's my issue. Why when a folder is created with Node js in the local directory does Dropbox Desktop not treat it exactly as if I'd created it manually?

 

I hope this makes it a little clearer? I really appreciate your willingness to understand my problem, I really do!!

I see, thanks for clarifying. (Part of confusion is that the Dropbox JavaScript SDK can actually be used in Node JS in addition to in browser JavaScript, but it sounds like you're not actually referring to that.)

That is, you're actually referring to the difference between these two operations:

1) Creating a folder on the local filesystem by hand, i.e., using the local GUI.
2) Creating a folder on the local filesystem programmatically, using the Node JS filesystem interface (fs.mkdir, presumably).

I thought you were referring to using the API via the Dropbox JavaScript, given you reference to it in the first message, for use in the "online" case.

Unfortunately, since the "offline" operations you're referring to aren't about the API, I'm afraid I can't offer much help, as I only specialize in the Dropbox API (and this is the forum for the API in particular). We don't document/guarantee particular behaviors for the Dropbox desktop client for programmatic use like this.