You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.
Forum Discussion
kevin g.1
3 years agoHelpful | Level 6
Open with file explorer from anchor tag
Hi,
Is it possible to implement the "show in file explorer" option for folders from our own website similar to how it's done on dropbox.com? Our current workflow has us clicking on a link to t...
- 3 years ago
No, unfortunately that's not available via the API, but I'll pass this along as a feature request. I can't promise if or when that might be implemented though.
Greg-DB
Dropbox Staff
No, unfortunately that's not available via the API, but I'll pass this along as a feature request. I can't promise if or when that might be implemented though.
Tech Dev Oldsmar
2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
Wondering if there is any further interest in supporting this feature through the API. We use the API in production (which is rock solid, so thank you for a great product). However, right now from the Intranet we open the DB folder then wait a bit for the context menu to show the "open in file explorer" to get to the local path. This is a repetitive task so providing a direct link would net a lot of productivity.
- Здравко2 years agoLegendary | Level 20
Tech Dev Oldsmar wrote:... This is a repetitive task so providing a direct link would net a lot of productivity.
If the local path of Dropbox folder is only thing you're interested in, doesn't info.json work for you? 🤔 In spite opposite task (mapping local path to API path) example of something similar can be seen here. Just concatenate the two paths in your case (Dropbox folder path and relative file/folder path within) to produce the full path. 🤷
- Greg-DB2 years agoDropbox Staff
Tech Dev Oldsmar I don't have any news on the original feature request here. If the info.json that Здравко mentioned would be helpful though, you can find information on that here.
- Tech Dev Oldsmar2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
Thanks Greg - no problem with finding the local path...in fact, I have an Outlook Add-In that will automatically summarize the message body with OpenAI and archive the email into the proper DBX subdirectory based on a docket (e.g., ticket no). The challenge is that modern browsers (wisely) do not support UNC paths to open File Explorer. Therefore, the little feature to open in File Explorer in the DBX web app is quite handy and I've hoped there would be motivation one day to support it through the API. Just my two cents if it ever comes up in a meeting. Thanks for closing the loop.
- Tech Dev Oldsmar10 months agoHelpful | Level 6
I actually came up with a decent method of opening the Windows File Explorer having the synchronized DropBox files on the client from a website. In this case, the website is running Blazor Server in .NET 7. I create a SignalR Hub to which a small Windows Form application subscribes.
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR.Client; //replace localhost:7083 with your production URL hubConnection1 = await ConnectToHub("https://localhost:7083/messageHub");
The website (using the DBX API) passes via SignalR the folder path and a userID to the Windows Form app.
var hubConnection = new HubConnectionBuilder() .WithUrl(url) .WithAutomaticReconnect() .Build(); hubConnection.On<string, string>("ReceiveMessage", (message, userEmail) => // process received data from website....
The Windows Form app checks that the userID matches and then opens the path to the local DBX files:
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("explorer.exe", fullPath);
Because sometimes people install the DBX client in wacky places I also have a textbox in the Windows Form app that allows them to set the path to a Teams root folder (e.g., "C:\Users\userName\DropboxTeam\CompanyShare"
On the Blazor side:
@using Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR // Link a method to a button click that calls: await HubContext.Clients.All.SendAsync("ReceiveMessage", dbxLocalPath, myUser.EmployeeEmail); // in Program.cs don't forget: using Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR; builder.Services.AddSignalR(); app.MapHub<MessageHub>("/messageHub"); //Finally, make sure you have a Hub in your Blazor Server: public class MessageHub : Hub { public async Task SendMessage(string message) { await Clients.All.SendAsync("ReceiveMessage", message); } }
So the overall idea is that you have users with a little WinForm client receiving messages from BlazorServer to open file directories. Blazor sends a userID which you check matches the local WinForm client. Otherwise, all your users have File Explorer open when any one requests it from the website.
About Dropbox API Support & Feedback
Find help with the Dropbox API from other developers.
5,883 PostsLatest Activity: 2 days agoIf 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 or Facebook.
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!