I am trying to download a file from Google Drive API v3. I have to do this by finding a file by name.
This is request url to get a file general information:
https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files?q=name+%3D+'fileName.json'
and to download a file I have to use parameter alt=media.
It works but only when I am finding this file by id. I mean:
https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/3Gp-A4t6455kGGGIGX_gg63454354YD?alt=media
Anyone know how to download a file by name so using this?
https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files?q=name+%3D+'fileName.json'
Answer:
Unfortunately it isn't possible to download a file from Google Drive using the file name in the URL itself.
Reasoning:
As can be seen in the image below, Google Drive supports multiple files having the same name. Each file, instead of being identified exclusively by its name, has a unique ID which tells it apart from other files. As it is possible to have, for example, three files all with the same name, making a request and only referring to the file name doesn't give enough information to identify exactly which file you want to download.
Workaround:
You can still use the filename to build the request, but first you need to make a list request to the Drive API so that you can obtain the specific file ID for the file you wish to download.
I'll assume the file you want to download is called fileName.json as in your question.
First, you'll want to make a list request to the server to obtain the initial file name. The scope you will need for this is:
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly
The request itself is as you placed in the question. Once you have obtained your token, you must make a GET request:
GET https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files?q=name+%3D+'fileName.json'&key=[YOUR API KEY]
You must replace [YOUR API KEY] with your actual API key here. You can obtain a temporary one over at the OAuth Playground.
From this request you will get a JSON reponse of all the files in your Drive with the requested filename. This is an important point - if you only have one file with this filename, you have nothing to worry about and can continue from here. If more than one file exists then the JSON response will contain all these files and so extra code will need to be added here to retrieve the one you want.
Continuing on - the response you get back is of the following form:
{
"incompleteSearch": false,
"files": [
{
"mimeType": "application/json",
"kind": "drive#file",
"id": "<your-file-ID>",
"name": "fileName.json"
}
],
"kind": "drive#fileList"
}
From here, you can start to build your URL.
Building the download URL:
After retrieving the JSON response from the API, you need to extract the File ID to put into a URL. The following example is written in JavaScript/Google Apps Script, but can be built in whichever language suits your needs:
function buildTheUrl() {
var url = "https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files";
var fileName = "fileName.json"
var apiKey = "your-api-key";
var parameters = "?q=name+%3D+'";
var requestUrl = url + parameters + fileName + "&key=" + apiKey;
var response = JSON.parse(UrlFetchApp.fetch(requestUrl).getContentText());
var fileId = response.files.id;
var downloadUrl = "https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/";
var urlParams = "?alt=media";
return downloadUrl + fileId + urlParams + "&key=" + apiKey;
}
This returns a string which is the download URL for the file. This is a Files: get request that can then be used to download the file in question.
References:
Google OAuth Playground
Google Drive API Files: list
Google Drive API Files: get
Google Apps Script: UrlFetchApp
w3schools: JSON objects
Related
I want to update an existing spreadsheet in a drive folder but have trouble implementing the http request. I followed the documentation and was able to update a spreadsheet but the request body, which I tried to send in JSON, is always converted to CSV. This results in the distribution of the JSON parts into individual cells depending on present commas.
For instance, cell1= "{key1" and cell2= "value1" and so on. However, this prevents me from specifying the style of the sheet and values within the cells.
I found the possibility to send multipart request which, however, results in the same result. Now the first boundary string and the initial information until the first comma are included in the first cell and the rest ist divided according to existing commas.
What I want to do ist send an HTTP request with the body consisting of a JSON-File of specified information for the spreadsheet as described in the Sheets API of Google, but cannot find my current mistake. Even with mimetype set to "application/vnd.google-apps.spreadsheet" the json is always converted to csv.
mimetype "application/vnd.google-apps.spreadsheet"
If the file in question is an actuall google sheets file type. For example the mime type is "application/vnd.google-apps.spreadsheet". Then you should go though the google sheets api to update it. Other wise updating it though google drive you will need to load the file itself into a file stream and then upload it that way. You cant pick and choose what parts are uploaded with drive its all or nothing. Drive doesn't have the power to format things like cells and stuch it just uploads the raw file data.
Mimetype "text/plain"
If the file is in fact a csv file so the mime type is "text/plain" then you can update the text directly. by turning the text into a stream.
You have not said what language you are using so here is my sample for C#. The code is ripped from How to upload to Google Drive API from memory with C#
var uploadString = "Test";
var fileName = "ploadFileString.txt";
// Upload file Metadata
var fileMetadata = new Google.Apis.Drive.v3.Data.File()
{
Name = fileName,
Parents = new List<string>() { "1R_QjyKyvET838G6loFSRu27C-3ASMJJa" } // folder to upload the file to
};
var fsSource = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(uploadString ?? ""));
string uploadedFileId;
// Create a new file, with metadata and stream.
var request = service.Files.Create(fileMetadata, fsSource, "text/plain");
request.Fields = "*";
var results = await request.UploadAsync(CancellationToken.None);
if (results.Status == UploadStatus.Failed)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Error uploading file: {results.Exception.Message}");
}
// the file id of the new file we created
uploadedFileId = request.ResponseBody?.Id;
I am using an application that modifies the properties field of my Drive Files using the Google Drive API v3 Files Update method. Let's say I have a file with a "test" property with the value "my first value". Then, I update the file specifying the file ID and sending an object in the request body with the properties to be updated as the following:
{
"properties": {
"test": "some random value"
}
}
The API returns a 200, so the file has been successfully updated. Then, the application sends a request to the Files List method to list the files for the parent folder, and the file I just updated still has "my first value" in the "test" property.
However, if I send a request to the Files Get method, passing the file ID, the properties object has the "test" property with the value updated ("some random value").
What am I missing? Why does the Files List method return obsolete information?
You can replicate this scenario using the Try it! section of each method.
How do I append content to the end of a file in Google Drive using the API ?
Do I really have to download the whole thing, then edit the local copy, and then re-upload the whole thing again?
Yes you really have to download edit the file and upload it again. There is no way to programmatically edit a file. Except maybe a spreadsheet but then you would be using the Google sheets API and not the Google drive API.
You can use the drive apis resumable upload with some restrictions:
(I don't quite remember if its true) Minimum bytes uploaded have to be 262144 except for the final upload which "creates" the file, which can contain less
An upload-session expires after one week,
you can set Content-Range to */* if you don't know the final filesize
The file wont show up in google drive in the ui until complete,Upload using a similiar header to the example below, where /* is the final byte length of the file. It has to be one byte less, like in the example below: 262146/262147
I recommend getting a service account for gcp project, you can create a folder in your personal drive and share it with the service account email.
To save some time, because the drive api documentation is not the best, here in "pure" python http requests:
First you have to create the file and get the session_url:
headers = {"Authorization": "Bearer "+myAccesstoken,
"Content-Type": "application/json"}
file_metadata = {
'name': "myFile.txt",
'mimeType': "text/plain",
'parents': [myFolderid],
"uploadType": "resumable"
}
r = requests.post(
"https://www.googleapis.com/upload/drive/v3/files?uploadType=resumable",
headers=headers,
data=json.dumps(file_metadata)
)
session_url=r.headers['Location']
Then you can upload data to it:
headers = {
"Authorization": "Bearer "+myAccesstoken,
"Content-Range": 'bytes 0-262144/*'}
if is_final_data:
headers = {
"Authorization": "Bearer "+myAccestoken,
"Content-Range": 'bytes 262144-262146/262147'}
sd = io.BytesIO()
sd.write(bytes("Wurst", "ASCII"))
sd.seek(0)
r = requests.put(
session_url,
headers=headers,
data=sd
)
To get last uploaded byte position, if you are resuming an upload, send an empty put request only with the session url and authorization headers and read its response headers afterwards.
You can store the session url in a file and resume upload for one week.
Note: You will need something like below, since the access token is only valid for a limited amount of time.
if credentials.access_token_expired:
credentials.refresh(httplib2.Http())
I am working on a Java application that will move files and folders to box.com. I am consuming the REST API V2 and was able to upload a single file by making a multpart post to the endpoint: https://upload.box.com/api/2.0/files/content.
Is it possible to upload multiple files to box.com by making a single post call? If so, what would the post call look like?
Here is a code snippet showing how I upload a single file:
Client client = Client.create();
File thefile = new File(PATH_TO_FILE/FILE_NAME.pdf);
WebResource webResource = client.resource("https://upload.box.com/api/2.0/files/content");
FormDataMultiPart form = new FormDataMultiPart();
form.bodyPart(new FileDataBodyPart("filename", thefile, MediaType.APPLICATION_OCTET_STREAM_TYPE));
form.field("filename", "test.pdf");
form.field("parent_id", parentId);
ClientResponse response = webResource.type(MediaType.MULTIPART_FORM_DATA).header(
"Authorization", "Bearer " + getBoxTokenProperty(GRANT_TYPE_ACCESS_VAL)).post(ClientResponse.class, form);
Thanks in advance!
Currently the Box API only supports uploading a single file per request.
I would like to do something like this:
var json = JSON.parse(urlFetch.getContentText());
var entry = json.feed.entry;
for(var i in entry){
if(userEmail == entry[i].getOwner()){
//Do Stuff
}
}
Assuming each entry here is a File in JSON retrieved from a call to DocsList feed, how can I hydrate it into an Apps Script File object so I can call normal File functions on it, like getOwner() or getFileType()?
Thanks!
You may analyze the each entry by looking on the json string. I beleive you are using Google Docs native API,
After looking on the documentation here, I can see
entry.author.email will give you author's email address.
Similarly, author's name: entry.author.name
You will not be having any method like getOwner() in that returned json.
Also, FYI, there is DocslList service in Apps Script, which has such methods