Your workflow is unique 👨‍💻 -  tell us how you use Dropbox here.

Forum Discussion

peytonshc's avatar
peytonshc
Explorer | Level 3
8 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
8 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
8 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
    8 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
      8 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.

      • Greg-DB's avatar
        Greg-DB
        Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
        8 years ago
        The files_download_to_file method should just download a single copy of the file to wherever you specify in the download_path parameter. Can you share code that reproduces the unexpected behavior you're seeing?

About Dropbox API Support and Feedback

Node avatar for Dropbox API Support and Feedback
Get help with the Dropbox API from fellow developers and experts.

The Dropbox Community team is active from Monday to Friday. We try to respond to you as soon as we can, usually within 2 hours.

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X, Facebook or Instagram.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!