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peytonshc's avatar
peytonshc
Explorer | Level 3
9 years ago

Unable to download file to a desired path via files_download_to_file using the python api

I am using the files_download_to_file function to try and download a file from my dropbox to a specific location.  As parameters I am giving it '/home/user/Desktop' and it is saying IOError: [Errno 2...
API
Greg-DB's avatar
Greg-DB
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
9 years ago

When calling files_download_to_file, the `download_path` parameter should be the full local path where you want to save the file, including the file name and extension. So, instead of '/home/user/Desktop', you should supply something like '/home/user/Desktop/filename.ext'. 

  • peytonshc's avatar
    peytonshc
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago

    I tried that before but got TypeError: 'FileMetadata' object is not iterable when I try and write it.

    • Greg-DB's avatar
      Greg-DB
      Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
      9 years ago
      It looks like there's a mistake in the documentation (we'll get that fixed up), but the files_download_to_file method actually just returns a FileMetadata object (not a tuple), so make sure you're not trying to unpack the result.

      I.e., your code should look something like `metadata = dbx.files_download_to_file(...)` not `metadata, result = dbx.files_download_to_file(...)`.
      • peytonshc's avatar
        peytonshc
        Explorer | Level 3
        9 years ago

        That works now but I am curious why when I run the program it download the files to the directed directory as well as the current directory.  I would like this to just happen in the directed directory.

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