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MWS-TSG's avatar
MWS-TSG
Explorer | Level 3
6 years ago
Solved

Test whether file has finished syncing on windows

Hi, I need to test programatically (any language/script) whether a file which has just been changed locally on PC has finished syncing via dropbox.  If it hasn't yet started syncing or hasn't yet...
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  • Greg-DB's avatar
    Greg-DB
    6 years ago

    Unfortunately, Dropbox doesn't offer an official API for checking the status of the local Dropbox desktop client or files like this, but I'll pass this along as a feature request. I can't promise if or when that might be implemented though.

Greg-DB's avatar
Greg-DB
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
6 years ago

Unfortunately, Dropbox doesn't offer an official API for checking the status of the local Dropbox desktop client or files like this, but I'll pass this along as a feature request. I can't promise if or when that might be implemented though.

  • MWS-TSG's avatar
    MWS-TSG
    Explorer | Level 3
    6 years ago
    Greg, thanks for the confirmation of what I saw elsewhere (but needed checking).
    My half-baked ideas of the API would have me expect that the API is running on the Dropbox server, which might not even yet know that the file had been changed if the syncing hasn’t yet started, in which case a server API call would be unreliable anyway.
    Would you know anything about interrogating the local machine using file attributes or the Dropbox service?
    • Greg-DB's avatar
      Greg-DB
      Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
      6 years ago

      That's correct. The Dropbox API operates by communicating with the Dropbox servers, so information about unstarted or incomplete activity from desktop clients wouldn't be available anyway.

      I'm afraid I don't have any information to offer about inspecting local file attributes or the local Dropbox client/service. I can't recommend doing so anyway as that's not officially documented for use as a programmatic interface like this, and so is subject to change.

      • MWS-TSG's avatar
        MWS-TSG
        Explorer | Level 3
        6 years ago

        Thanks, Greg.

        I have experimented with manually pausing dropbox for the duration of my process, and then un-pausing. This has the desired effect. Therefore I do have one more question which is:

        How do I pause/un-pause Dropbox syncing programatically, using a script or command?

        Thanks again.

        Mark.

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