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jasmine_r's avatar
jasmine_r
Helpful | Level 6
7 years ago

Dropbox API v2 to find whether the files are synced, deleted, renamed, moved or copied.

Dropbox API v2 in java provides methods to upload a file, read content of a file, etc. But is there a way to find that a file is either synced, deleted, renamed, moved or copied using these API's ?
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Greg-DB's avatar
Greg-DB
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
7 years ago

[Cross-linking for reference: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/50758392/dropbox-api-v2-to-find-the-files-that-are-synced-moved-renamed-copied-and-del ]

 

Using the Dropbox API v2 Java SDK, to keep track of file additions, edits, deletions, moves/renames, and copies, you should use listFolder and listFolderContinue. Please refer to the linked documentation for more information on how to use these methods. You can use continue to call listFolderContinue over time as necessary, using the last received cursor, to get just the changes that occurred since the last time you called. 

 

Also, note that moves/renames will look identical, and will appear as a deletion at the old path and an addition at the new path. You can keep track of these using the file ID though, which won't change. Copies will look like new additions.

  • jasmine_r's avatar
    jasmine_r
    Helpful | Level 6
    7 years ago

    Hi, Can you please explain how file ID can be used to keep track of these changes, because when a file is deleted the file ID is not available in the Deletedmetadata. I get only these attributes for a deleted file.

    {
		".tag":"deleted",
		"name":"javacompile.txt",
		"path_lower":"/first/hai/javacompile.txt",
		"path_display":"/first/hai/javacompile.txt"
	}

     

    If a file is renamed it is actually under deleted files and also renamed in the same path. To find if the file is renamed i tried correlating the path of the deleted file and renamed file, but to be accurate i need file ID for correlating renamed events. How do i get the file ID of deleted files ?

    • Greg-DB's avatar
      Greg-DB
      Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
      7 years ago
      The file ID isn't included in DeletedMetadata, so you should make sure to store the previous metadata, and check the file ID of the file that was previously at that path specified by the DeletedMetadata.

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