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Pysio13's avatar
Pysio13
Helpful | Level 6
3 years ago
Solved

Shared Link / "scl" to "s"

Hello. My question concerns my recent issue with file sharing. Usually, my links were generated in this way: 'https://www.dropbox.com/s/'. However, lately, every file is being generated in this way: ...
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  • JasonSilverDBX's avatar
    JasonSilverDBX
    3 years ago
    Thank you BenDBX  for splitting off a new thread specific to the 3rd party integrations issue, and especially for doing it in a way that migrates all the relevant posts to date!  To properly wrap up this thread, below is a summary.


    Why the new "/scl" link format?

     

    Dropbox is moving to an updated shared link architecture where links are based on the content being shared rather than on the user doing the sharing.  This new content-based link architecture is already in place for edit access links to folders and newly created links to files, and can be identified by the presence of an â€˜rlkey’ parameter in the URL.  (They also begin with "/scl" instead of the previous architecture's  "/s".)  It is the rlkey parameter which grants access to the content.  That is why removing that parameter results in visitors having to sign in and request access.  I talk more about this transition in this forum thread.
     
    Over the next few months, we’ll round out the shared link portfolio by bringing this new architecture to newly created view-only access folder links, or view folder links for short.

    Direct Download on new link architecture is Solved

     
    Regarding this thread on “direct / forced” download not working on new links, this should be solved since a fix was implemented 2 weeks ago.  That is, all new links should now function the same as legacy links for these purposes.  This can be accomplished in two ways.  
    1. modifying the dl parameter in the URL
    2. modifying using dl.dropbox.com or dl.dropboxusercontent.com.  

     

    👉 In both cases you must retain the rlkey parameter for the URL to grant your recipients permission rights to access your file.

     

    What is the DL parameter?

     

    Anything following the ? in a URL are query parameters.  It’s worth reemphasizing that dl parameter in new links did not break and will continue to function identically to those in legacy links.  Manually changing the dl parameter does the following:

     

    https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&dl=0

    • Default link. This will render the content in the Dropbox file viewer.

    https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&dl=1

    • Downloads the content of the link (if the user has access to the content based on link settings). This query parameter takes precedence even if raw=1 is also added.

    https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&raw=1

    • Directly renders the content in the browser (if the link has a public audience and no other restrictions). Note that this link has an HTTP 302 redirect, so the application or browser must be able to follow the redirect.

     

    What are the dl.dropbox... modifications?

     
    These are link transformations from the early days of Dropbox.  While we don't "officially" list these anymore in our Help Center, we are continuing to support them for now.  
     
    https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&dl=0
    • Replacing www with dl works exactly like a ?raw=1 link: this will directly render content for public links in the browser. It requires following an HTTP 302 redirect.
    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/scl/fi/<token>/path.jpg?rlkey=<token>&dl=0
    • Works like a ?raw=1 link, but the application or browser will not need to follow an HTTP 302 redirect to access the content.
     
JasonSilverDBX's avatar
JasonSilverDBX
Icon for Dropbox Product Manager rankDropbox Product Manager
3 years ago

Hi everyone,

 

I am one of the Product Managers for our sharing functionality here at Dropbox.  I have read through every one of the posts in this thread and can understand your frustration.  Many of you are long time Dropbox users that depend on us to keep your content secure, and critically, to also make it easy to share. 

 

While we took quick action to deliver a fix to allow direct download from shared links (see posts here and here), it seems it did not completely solve the problem.  Some users on this thread have reported success, while others have not.

 

We very much hear you!  I do not have a solution to post here for you all tonight, but we are taking careful look at the use cases you’ve shared to provide an answer soon.  I will aim to post another update here by end of this week before the holidays in the US.  Please do continue to provide details or any additional failures you’re seeing as it is a huge help!

 

Jason Silver

Dropbox Sharing Product Manager

aaronpanganiban21's avatar
aaronpanganiban21
Helpful | Level 7
3 years ago
So it looks like (no shade here) a staff member marked it at solved. I didn’t, and I think I commented earlier that I’m leaving it open because it hasn’t been resolved yet.

I’m unsure why they’d do that unless it’s a way of protocol for them to keep tabs on the issue (like tallying the cases). But yeah, it’s far from fixed and if anything it might have gotten a LOT worse
  • jknight136's avatar
    jknight136
    Explorer | Level 4
    3 years ago

    Ok after chatting with Dropbox support, we found a solution. It may not be ideal, but this works. Go to a file that was uploaded and generated an /scl/ link. Hover over it, click the three dots to open the menu, and click Share>>>Share with Dropbox. Click the gear icon in the top right, then click Link for Viewing. Delete the previously created link and then create a new link. Now when you copy the link, it should be a link with /s/ and it will work just like it always has. I hope this helps everyone. 

  • BenDBX's avatar
    BenDBX
    Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager
    3 years ago
    Hi Everybody,
     
    In order to properly track and update our users about updated link structure, I have created a new thread that specifically addresses the effect of this change in URL structure on third party apps and websites.
     
    I will also be moving all comments on this thread relating to 3rd party apps and websites to the new thread, which can be found here.
     
    This thread is open for continued discussion of the change in URL and how it has affected direct downloads and rendering through Dropbox.
     
    Regards,
    Ben

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