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Zensible's avatar
Zensible
Explorer | Level 4
4 years ago

Notification of File Request Upload

Hi All, 

 

I'm trying to automate a full process of which Dropbox is part. I need to be able to send a file request using the API and then be notified via a webhook or a periodic poll (not by email) when a file has been uploaded but the file request URL. This way I can determine where the file came from and continue the automation.

 

I can now do the first part, send the file request, thanks to Greg-DB 👍 but need to know what options I have to be notified when this has happened. I can store the URL or the ID from the creation somewhere but not sure how I can get that information returned when an upload is completed. 

 

Thanks🙏

 

  • Greg-DB's avatar
    Greg-DB
    4 years ago

    Since you can't look up which file request was the source of any particular new file directly, using a distinct folder per file request is a good solution.

     

    And you can monitor all folders for changes, and see which folder(s) had changes. I reccomend reading through the guides I linked to first for reference. If you want to use Dropbox webhooks, you can find the information for that here. (I don't know if Zapier would supports Dropbox webhooks directly though, so you may need to operate your own code as an intermediary if not.)

  • Greg-DB's avatar
    Greg-DB
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    The Dropbox API doesn't offer a way to monitor and retrieve information about uploads to file requests in particular, but I'll pass this along as a feature request.

     

    You can monitor for changes to any arbitrary path though, such as the folder where uploads for a file request are sent. I recommend reading the File Access Guide and Detecting Changes Guide for information on how to do so.

    • Zensible's avatar
      Zensible
      Explorer | Level 4

      Hey, thanks again ;) 

       

      What I'm trying to do is automatically send a file request and then run automation when the file is uploaded. The problem is that I will be sending lots of file requests and need a way of determining when a file is uploaded, which request it was related to. 

       

      I can do this by creating a unique folder (Client name) for the request but then I need to monitor all folders for changes and then send a webhook or something to Zapier with the Folder that the file was uploaded to. 

       

      Is this possible? how would I/you go about this. Sorry for all the questions but I'm new to Dropbox and I really appreciate the education. 

      • Greg-DB's avatar
        Greg-DB
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Since you can't look up which file request was the source of any particular new file directly, using a distinct folder per file request is a good solution.

         

        And you can monitor all folders for changes, and see which folder(s) had changes. I reccomend reading through the guides I linked to first for reference. If you want to use Dropbox webhooks, you can find the information for that here. (I don't know if Zapier would supports Dropbox webhooks directly though, so you may need to operate your own code as an intermediary if not.)

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