Some Sub Folders Show Up In UI and API File List call but NOT in Full recusive of Top Level Folder

[Optiknerd]

Hi all,

I just got sent over from Dropbox technical support - it appears that the API is not officially supported - so I am hoping some of your might be able to help me that the following issue is not worth dropping Dropbox for.

I have an API call POST https://api.dropboxapi.com/2/files/list_folder that is configured to be recursive, that provides a full list of all files and folders from the top level folder.

When I run the same call for a sub folder that does not appear in that list but that I know the path for and can see in the Web User interface, I get folders and files that do not show up in the full recursive list from the top level folder.

The API has the highest level of scopes possible and all files and folders are owned by the account owner and were either created by the account owner or by the API which is authorized by the account owner.

A storage drive service that can't consistently find files and folders is pretty useless.  If anyone can convince me that there is a reasonable explanation for this, I am all ears.

Thanks,

[Greg-DB]

Apologies for the confusion. The Dropbox API is officially supported, and you can find the support resources for it on this page.

As for the issue you're seeing, I understand that you are attempting to list all files/folders using /2/files/list_folder. Note that this functionality is paginated and you are not guaranteed to get all of the results back in a single /2/files/list_folder call, so make sure you implement support for /2/files/list_folder/continue as well.
 
There are a few factors that can affect what/how much is returned in a single call, and that can vary over time due to a number of factors, e.g., as the state and contents of the account changes, etc, so you need to make sure you always have that implemented as documented.
 
Refer to the /2/files/list_folder and /2/files/list_folder/continue documentation for information on doing so.

[Optiknerd · Accepted solution]

Greg,

Thank you for your prompt reply.  You just saved Dropbox a customer.

I did not keep the first list that pulled from the API explorer so cannot be 100% sure that I was imagining that two folders were missing but I am pretty sure.  My subsequent calls were for totally recursive and as I had started out with just a list of just 7 folders, I forgot that I would exceed the 100 item per page limit.  I just redid the call for the list of 7 folders and have all seven now, so will have to assume that it was me being distracted.

What I am certain of is that the original Dropbox App that I created for my app stopped working over the weekend.   I will create a case for that.

With regards to support - can you please draw your management's attention to the fact that the contact menu option at the top of the page leads to Dropbox support NOT Dropbox API / Developer support.  One has to scroll down the page to get to a link to the form that one has to fill in to get support from the Developer support team.

With regards to the support I have had from your regular Dropbox Support team, I have to say that I have had great experiences like the one I just had from you and another from one of your colleagues who asked the sort of great questions that led him to the conclusion that the reason that my files were not showing up in my desktop version Dropbox was because I had renamed files with the Dropbox file ID embedded in the name.  The special character ":" was the culprit.

However, the answer that I got from some of your other colleagues was less impressive.  I was assured with great certainty, that Vimeo no longer accepts the links that Dropbox produces that would allow Vimeo to pull the videos I have stored in Dropbox up to Vimeo.   I cannot remember if I video taped that chat or saved a text copy but if your bosses are not completely useless they will find it and make sure that sort of misinformation NEVER happens again. Had I not been "misdirected" to the forum, I would not have seen the response to my query about this that was answered by @Здравко .   I just tested his solution and it appears to work. I am going to update my post on this.   Vimeo is a real pain in the ass but I had an unusually detailed response for a Jack in technical support and between the two responses, I now think that I can make this system work.

Anyway, thank you for your fast response.  

Regards

Optiknerd