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136446's avatar
136446
Explorer | Level 3
7 years ago

Getting downloading link of files in Dropbox automatically

I have some huge images in a folder on the web version of Dropbox that I need to make a shell script to download them one by one (There isn't enough room on my SDD and can't download the whole folder...
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  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    7 years ago
    There isn’t a way to download each image sequentially while logged into your account, or to generate links for each one in bulk.
     
    However, there is a small workaround using shared links and forcing files to render on the site.
     
    If you share a link to the entire folder, each image should be visible there. Now, since you can’t download the entire folder in bulk due to space constraints, you can make a script to download the images in turn, by slightly modifying the link. 
     
    Here’s an example of what I mean. If your shared folder links to the following location:
     
     
    Then an image in that folder would have the URL as:
     
     
    Note that the first portion of that folder, https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xiuioh21409nsj5j/, is the same, whereas the rest are different since each image has it’s own link.
     
    To automatically download the image, using the Dropbox site itself, just change the dl=0 to dl=1.
     
    However, wget needs the original file, not a URL redirect to a download. Dropbox can render images by changing the ending to raw=1. So your script would look like:
     
    wget https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xiuioh21409nsj5j/AAkanlaoidsgmq90mdg/DCIM0001.png?raw=1
     
    This would download the DCIM0001.png image directly.
     
    If your script can scrape the URLs from the shared link page, then change the last part of the URL to suit your needs, and enter it into a terminal/command prompt or batch file, then you can do it.
     
    Admittedly, this isn’t the easiest of things to do, and this will contribute to the daily bandwidth allowance for your account, however, this might help with your unique situation.
Rich's avatar
Rich
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
7 years ago
wrote:

I'm looking for a way of obtaining downloading link for each of them through the shell. Any suggestions?

There is no such function available within the Dropbox app or website. Share links can only be created manually, one at a time.

 

If you have any programming skills you may be able to use the Dropbox API to generate the links en masse.

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    7 years ago
    There isn’t a way to download each image sequentially while logged into your account, or to generate links for each one in bulk.
     
    However, there is a small workaround using shared links and forcing files to render on the site.
     
    If you share a link to the entire folder, each image should be visible there. Now, since you can’t download the entire folder in bulk due to space constraints, you can make a script to download the images in turn, by slightly modifying the link. 
     
    Here’s an example of what I mean. If your shared folder links to the following location:
     
     
    Then an image in that folder would have the URL as:
     
     
    Note that the first portion of that folder, https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xiuioh21409nsj5j/, is the same, whereas the rest are different since each image has it’s own link.
     
    To automatically download the image, using the Dropbox site itself, just change the dl=0 to dl=1.
     
    However, wget needs the original file, not a URL redirect to a download. Dropbox can render images by changing the ending to raw=1. So your script would look like:
     
    wget https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xiuioh21409nsj5j/AAkanlaoidsgmq90mdg/DCIM0001.png?raw=1
     
    This would download the DCIM0001.png image directly.
     
    If your script can scrape the URLs from the shared link page, then change the last part of the URL to suit your needs, and enter it into a terminal/command prompt or batch file, then you can do it.
     
    Admittedly, this isn’t the easiest of things to do, and this will contribute to the daily bandwidth allowance for your account, however, this might help with your unique situation.
    • 136446's avatar
      136446
      Explorer | Level 3
      7 years ago

      Thanks. It is strange that

      dropbox doesn't have any solution for this! Your workaround is quite good, there is only one issue: as you mentioned in thelink for each image there is a unique (seems to be unique) string. So if you wanna make a script to download the images without manually copying its link, how do you get the full link of that image including the unique part?

      • Jay's avatar
        Jay
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        7 years ago
        Well, I haven’t tested it here due to our restrictions, but there are some browser extensions that can download all the links and images on any webpage you’re viewing. 
         
        I’m sure there’s a way for those plugins to filter by URL, and then export that list to a file to which you can run your own script to rename dl=0 to raw=1, and append wget at the beginning of the URL. 
         
        Wish I could give better info but as this is a very custom-made workaround, it depends on how you approach it yourself!
         
        [This thread is now closed. If you have a similar or new question, you can ask here]

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