default order of returned metadata of files_list_folder and files_list_folder_continue Python APIs

[maoz]

Hi,

What is the default order of the returned metadata when iterating with files_list_folder and files_list_folder_continue Python APIs?

Is it arbitrary? By modification datetime? By other metadata?

Asking because a third party application iterates and reads files (guessing with files_list_folder and files_list_folder_continue APIs) from a folder that my Python script uploads.

I can't change the third party application code (don'y have it), so I'm wondering if I can control the reading order during the upload. For example by: file upload order, file name, file modification timestamp, any other file metadata.

Thanks,

Maoz

[Greg-DB · Accepted solution]

The Dropbox API files_list_folder and files_list_folder_continue methods do not offer an ordering option, nor is there a way to indirectly control the order exactly, but I'll pass this along as a feature request. I can't promise if or when that might be implemented though. 

The entries returned by are returned in the order needed to retrieve an accurate representation of the state of the Dropbox account, so the app should process them in the order received. Once the app retrieves all of the returned entries, it can optionally sort them as desired client-side.