6 ms·

copy_ref, OS X SDK

85 points by dwynings 15y ago

nextstep 15y ago
I have never used the Dropbox API, but I'm surprised that /delta wasn't available before this update. That seems like a great feature.
- jakedahn 15y ago
  yeah - it was kind of a pain, because it is such a useful pattern when dealing with dropbox. Super glad this was implemented.
harryf 15y ago
Surprised to see it's not idempotent. What if, for whatever reason, the caller fails to receive the response? Some information on changes is then permanently lost. Would have expected to see something like /delta?since=<timestamp_here> but perhaps that's harder to implement & requires much more data to be logged.
- eurleif 15y ago
  It looks to me like the 'cursor' parameter does that.
  - harryf 15y ago
    Ah yes thanks - should have read more carefully.
bprater 15y ago
I'm surprised we aren't seeing more web apps using Dropbox as the datastore. Anyone know why?
- johns 15y ago
  Lack of a sync API I'm guessing is a big one. There's no way to guarantee a file you place in a Dropbox will be there in the future unless you're notified if it's gone (which you can now do with /delta). Also, storing files isn't that big of a challenge, it's not like Dropbox is equipping you with a new skill. There needs to be a very compelling reason to put someone through an OAuth flow that requires a third-party service subscription for something that can easily be done transparently on the server or using S3 directly. I personally don't think it's compelling for everyday file storage, like S3 is. However, I think there are a ton of other possibilities that are very compelling: data export, save to Dropbox, collaboration and sharing amongst multiple users, etc.
  - bprater 15y ago
    > There needs to be a very compelling reason For instance, it would be useful to crop an image with the online Pixlr editor, save it to Dropbox -- and then inside of Wordpress to select the image to be viewable on my blog. I guess this option would be most useful when using media with multiple services.
- jmathai 15y ago
  I'm a lead on The OpenPhoto Project and it uses Dropbox as an optional datastore. They're not really a CDN though so it's paired with S3 or the local filesystem for CDN purposes. http://theopenphotoproject.org http://theopenphotoproject.org
rubenfonseca 15y ago
Is it just me or /copy_ref could be used to make an awesome warez site? I hacked a quick prototype and it seems to work: - User authenticates with Dropbox on my web app - User sees his/her files and select the ones he/she wants to share - Another User searches through the shared files, and by clicking "Download", and using /copy_ref, the file will appear on his/her Dropbox I'm still undecided if I should use a full Root Dropbox access or just App Folder. The later would give users a more security sense, but would require more effort to share files (move the files to the app directory). What do you think?
- tiles 15y ago
  Is /copy_ref usable across API keys? Your API keys can easily be revoked, but you could instead just cache copy_ref links, and script the ability for a user to create their own dummy Dropbox app, then start downloading files.
  - rubenfonseca 15y ago
    I think that the /copy_ref links are scoped to the API key. But anyway, why would Dropbox revoked the API? I would be using the official API, the user had to explicitly share the files and I would have no access to the Root directory of the user (assuming I'm using an Application API Key). I think that's no different that me generating a share URL from any file of my Dropbox account and posting on reddit for everyone to download :) But I'm no TOS expert :P
- wladimir 15y ago
  It really looks like the functionality that my Dropship hack offered :-) Except that it's easier to trace, as the person sharing the file has to give explicit permission, instead of just giving some anonymous description of the file. I guess they can use that to punish "wrongdoers".
  - rubenfonseca 15y ago
    Thanks Wladimir :) I learned a lot in the process and by reading your source code!
jmathai 15y ago
/delta is great but I've been holding out for an event/webhook API.
riobard 15y ago
Now we have /delta to get proper diffs, we only need the Events API to make awesome Dropbox-based apps. Currently there is no way for Dropbox to notify your app on a remote server about updates in a user's Dropbox folder. You have to poll. If you still have votes left, please consider voting for this feature at https://www.dropbox.com/votebox/5972/events-api https://www.dropbox.com/votebox/5972/events-api
mattiask 15y ago
Am I the only one that would like to see some kind of locking support in the API? So if you have multiple clients working against the same file it could take out a lock for x minutes and the other client could query to see if a file is locked. Useful for synchronization between clients..
- tseabrooks 15y ago
  We really need this in the API. We do our own version of this that is hacky and error prone but it's all we have right now. I was a bit amazed initially that this didn't already exist.

85 points by dwynings 15y ago

I have never used the Dropbox API, but I'm surprised that /delta wasn't available before this update. That seems like a great feature.

jakedahn 15y ago
yeah - it was kind of a pain, because it is such a useful pattern when dealing with dropbox. Super glad this was implemented.

harryf 15y ago

Surprised to see it's not idempotent. What if, for whatever reason, the caller fails to receive the response? Some information on changes is then permanently lost. Would have expected to see something like /delta?since=<timestamp_here> but perhaps that's harder to implement & requires much more data to be logged.

eurleif 15y ago
It looks to me like the 'cursor' parameter does that.
- harryf 15y ago
  Ah yes thanks - should have read more carefully.

bprater 15y ago

I'm surprised we aren't seeing more web apps using Dropbox as the datastore. Anyone know why?

johns 15y ago
Lack of a sync API I'm guessing is a big one. There's no way to guarantee a file you place in a Dropbox will be there in the future unless you're notified if it's gone (which you can now do with /delta). Also, storing files isn't that big of a challenge, it's not like Dropbox is equipping you with a new skill. There needs to be a very compelling reason to put someone through an OAuth flow that requires a third-party service subscription for something that can easily be done transparently on the server or using S3 directly. I personally don't think it's compelling for everyday file storage, like S3 is. However, I think there are a ton of other possibilities that are very compelling: data export, save to Dropbox, collaboration and sharing amongst multiple users, etc.
- bprater 15y ago
  > There needs to be a very compelling reason For instance, it would be useful to crop an image with the online Pixlr editor, save it to Dropbox -- and then inside of Wordpress to select the image to be viewable on my blog. I guess this option would be most useful when using media with multiple services.
jmathai 15y ago
I'm a lead on The OpenPhoto Project and it uses Dropbox as an optional datastore. They're not really a CDN though so it's paired with S3 or the local filesystem for CDN purposes. http://theopenphotoproject.org http://theopenphotoproject.org

rubenfonseca 15y ago

Is it just me or /copy_ref could be used to make an awesome warez site? I hacked a quick prototype and it seems to work: - User authenticates with Dropbox on my web app - User sees his/her files and select the ones he/she wants to share - Another User searches through the shared files, and by clicking "Download", and using /copy_ref, the file will appear on his/her Dropbox I'm still undecided if I should use a full Root Dropbox access or just App Folder. The later would give users a more security sense, but would require more effort to share files (move the files to the app directory). What do you think?

tiles 15y ago
Is /copy_ref usable across API keys? Your API keys can easily be revoked, but you could instead just cache copy_ref links, and script the ability for a user to create their own dummy Dropbox app, then start downloading files.
- rubenfonseca 15y ago
  I think that the /copy_ref links are scoped to the API key. But anyway, why would Dropbox revoked the API? I would be using the official API, the user had to explicitly share the files and I would have no access to the Root directory of the user (assuming I'm using an Application API Key). I think that's no different that me generating a share URL from any file of my Dropbox account and posting on reddit for everyone to download :) But I'm no TOS expert :P
wladimir 15y ago
It really looks like the functionality that my Dropship hack offered :-) Except that it's easier to trace, as the person sharing the file has to give explicit permission, instead of just giving some anonymous description of the file. I guess they can use that to punish "wrongdoers".
- rubenfonseca 15y ago
  Thanks Wladimir :) I learned a lot in the process and by reading your source code!

jmathai 15y ago

/delta is great but I've been holding out for an event/webhook API.

riobard 15y ago

Now we have /delta to get proper diffs, we only need the Events API to make awesome Dropbox-based apps. Currently there is no way for Dropbox to notify your app on a remote server about updates in a user's Dropbox folder. You have to poll. If you still have votes left, please consider voting for this feature at https://www.dropbox.com/votebox/5972/events-api https://www.dropbox.com/votebox/5972/events-api

mattiask 15y ago

Am I the only one that would like to see some kind of locking support in the API? So if you have multiple clients working against the same file it could take out a lock for x minutes and the other client could query to see if a file is locked. Useful for synchronization between clients..

tseabrooks 15y ago
We really need this in the API. We do our own version of this that is hacky and error prone but it's all we have right now. I was a bit amazed initially that this didn't already exist.