Process folder in cloud / How to start?

[schubec]

Hi all!

Here is what I want to do - the problem is, I have no idea where to start. Any links/examples/tutorials are welcome.

I want to provide a service for potentially all Dropbox users. So this is not just for me or a couple of company owned PCs.

My users/customers should place a bunch of PDFs in a certain Dropbox folder. Let's call it "input".

Then a cloud service (maybe Amazon Lambda or a Linux box with a Cronjob) fetches the PDFs, does some processing (eg. OCR, extracting barcodes) and places the files in a folder "output" plus a *.txt file with the extracted metadata.

I think I can get a notification with web hooks when the user places the PDFs in his folder. But how can I read these documents and move them to another folder plus add some more files?

Also, since this should be a paid service, is there any integration with Dropbox regarding payment?

Any pointers are welcome!

Thank you,

schube

[Greg-DB]

[Cross-linking for reference: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/51843799/process-gdrive-dropbox-folder-in-cloud-how-to-start ]

Dropbox does offer an API you can use for listing, downloading, and upload files, among other operations. You can find everything you need to get started with the Dropbox API, including documentation, tutorials, and SDKs here:

https://www.dropbox.com/developers

For example, to list files, you should use /2/files/list_folder[/continue]:

https://www.dropbox.com/developers/documentation/http/documentation#files-list_folder

https://www.dropbox.com/developers/documentation/http/documentation#files-list_folder-continue

To download files, you should use /2/files/download:

https://www.dropbox.com/developers/documentation/http/documentation#files-download

To upload files, you can use /2/files/upload:

https://www.dropbox.com/developers/documentation/http/documentation#files-upload

Those are links to the documentation for the HTTPS endpoints themselves, but we recommend using one of the official SDKs if possible:

https://www.dropbox.com/developers/documentation

Those have corresponding native methods for the HTTPS endpoints. 

And you can get webhook notifications for changes in the Dropbox accounts of users connected to your app. You can find information on that here:

https://www.dropbox.com/developers/reference/webhooks

Finally, note that use of the API itself is actually entirely free. The API is built such that developers can create apps that (once in production mode) any Dropbox account can link to. The Dropbox accounts used with the app can be of any type (Basic, Plus, or Dropbox Business.)

It is only if the owners of any individual (or group of) accounts want to upgrade is there cost involved. You can see more information on pricing and plans here:

https://www.dropbox.com/plans

Likewise, it is up to you if/what to charge for your own service.

[schubec]

Hello Greg,

thank you for your answer, but:

I totally understand that I can upload / download / modify my files with the SDK.

I have done that before, that is no problem.

The point here is, to provide my service, I have to read files (PDF files for providing OCR service) of other Dropbox users (who authorized that I access one special folder).

This is where I am stuck.

Thank you!

[Greg-DB]

To enable other users to connect to and use your Dropbox API app, you should implement the Dropbox API app authorization flow. There's a guide that covers this here:

https://www.dropbox.com/developers/reference/oauth-guide

The documentation can be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/developers/documentation/http/documentation#authorization