5 ms·

The Dropbox Shared Folder API Beta

31 points by ivankirigin 13y ago

vladgur 13y ago
Does this mean we would soon be able to tell who initiated the sharing with somebody else? or who updated something shared? Please say yes, please say yes :)
- usaar333 13y ago
  > Who initiated the sharing with somebody else? This is supported while someone is an in the invited state, but the initial version likely won't support full auditing to answer the question "How did user X become a member of this folder?", though this is in our plans. Could you explain your use case? > Who updated something shared? Yes. And each revision in the revision history will include information on who updated the file.
  - vladgur 13y ago
    Thanks, I think your second answers covers my use cases. Let me explain them: Currently, file's metadata has no ownership information. If I see it in my files or my deltas, it could be because either I created or somebody else created them in a shared folder or somebody else shared a folder with me and i accepted. In other words, if user X adds a file to a shared a folder with user Y, when User Y requests for deltas from the API, I cant tell if the User Y is the creater of these files. It looks like Id be able navigate the revision to figure out who created the file. or who placed it in the shared folder, so this api is certainly a welcome addition
  - pebbleman 13y ago
    That's great news, especially the answer to the second question. I would use this information to give give users a better to see what happened to their shared folders (who changed what etc.) Do you have any plans on extending the /revisions call so that developers can determine whether the file was restored/added/edited/deleted? This is quite difficult or impossible (edited or restored) at the moment.
usaar333 13y ago
Hi, I'm an API engineer at Dropbox. Happy to field any questions you guys may have!
- Selfcommit 13y ago
  bit confused - you're asking for an API key? Wouldn't I be getting one from Dropbox?
  - daniel_levine 13y ago
    Yep. The only thing required for the form is an email so we can get in touch with more stuff. For folks who already have apps we are curious what they are. Also we'll eventually use the App Key to grant access to folks for the beta.
- dmw7752 13y ago
  Hey! I've watched some of the videos on all of dropbox's other apis and think I have a pretty good understanding about how developers would use them. I'm a little fuzzy on this one and was wondering if you could give an example or two of how a developer might leverage this. Thanks!
  - daniel_levine 13y ago
    There are a bunch of different use cases we have thought about. Perhaps my favorite is a mirrored workspace. An app like Asana could use the Shared Folder API to create a Dropbox shared folder that mirrors an Asana project. As you add or subtract users, those changes affect both. Similarly files added via the Dropbox folder appear in Asana and files added in Asana are instantly put into your Dropbox. A video conference has similar concepts. But there are tons more and we'd love to hear ideas from other folks!
- chj 13y ago
  I am not sure if this is a share API feature, but it is a problem I am struggling with. We have an app using sandbox app folder(we don't want to mess with user's full dropbox file system), but then problem is that users can not cooperate within a share folder. Here is what I'd like to have: A user shares a folder within app folder, then when another user accepts the request, then 1) keep the same name and same path strictly, create intermediary paths if necessary; 2) don't proceed if conflicts happen. Please let me know if it is already doable in current state.
sintaxi 13y ago
Very excited by this.
carlosdp 13y ago
Excellent! I have wanted this for a long time.
gwen_bell_dang 13y ago
DANG Tech is Fucked - Only $499 until April 17! http:/www.gwenbell.com
dgorges 13y ago
I wanted this natively supported for ever. For now, I use Hazel* to sync every change inside an dropbox folder into an app folder. It works, but you know... * http://www.noodlesoft.com/hazel http://www.noodlesoft.com/hazel
- usaar333 13y ago
  May I ask what app you are using? It seems that the app has been set up to use App Folders, when, for your use case, it could be using the more liberal Full Dropbox or File Types permissions.
ksec 13y ago
Great more features are coming out from Dropbox. I am still hoping their April announcement will include a huge increase in storage capacity.

31 points by ivankirigin 13y ago

Does this mean we would soon be able to tell who initiated the sharing with somebody else? or who updated something shared? Please say yes, please say yes :)

usaar333 13y ago
> Who initiated the sharing with somebody else? This is supported while someone is an in the invited state, but the initial version likely won't support full auditing to answer the question "How did user X become a member of this folder?", though this is in our plans. Could you explain your use case? > Who updated something shared? Yes. And each revision in the revision history will include information on who updated the file.
- vladgur 13y ago
  Thanks, I think your second answers covers my use cases. Let me explain them: Currently, file's metadata has no ownership information. If I see it in my files or my deltas, it could be because either I created or somebody else created them in a shared folder or somebody else shared a folder with me and i accepted. In other words, if user X adds a file to a shared a folder with user Y, when User Y requests for deltas from the API, I cant tell if the User Y is the creater of these files. It looks like Id be able navigate the revision to figure out who created the file. or who placed it in the shared folder, so this api is certainly a welcome addition
- pebbleman 13y ago
  That's great news, especially the answer to the second question. I would use this information to give give users a better to see what happened to their shared folders (who changed what etc.) Do you have any plans on extending the /revisions call so that developers can determine whether the file was restored/added/edited/deleted? This is quite difficult or impossible (edited or restored) at the moment.

usaar333 13y ago

Hi, I'm an API engineer at Dropbox. Happy to field any questions you guys may have!

Selfcommit 13y ago
bit confused - you're asking for an API key? Wouldn't I be getting one from Dropbox?
- daniel_levine 13y ago
  Yep. The only thing required for the form is an email so we can get in touch with more stuff. For folks who already have apps we are curious what they are. Also we'll eventually use the App Key to grant access to folks for the beta.
dmw7752 13y ago
Hey! I've watched some of the videos on all of dropbox's other apis and think I have a pretty good understanding about how developers would use them. I'm a little fuzzy on this one and was wondering if you could give an example or two of how a developer might leverage this. Thanks!
- daniel_levine 13y ago
  There are a bunch of different use cases we have thought about. Perhaps my favorite is a mirrored workspace. An app like Asana could use the Shared Folder API to create a Dropbox shared folder that mirrors an Asana project. As you add or subtract users, those changes affect both. Similarly files added via the Dropbox folder appear in Asana and files added in Asana are instantly put into your Dropbox. A video conference has similar concepts. But there are tons more and we'd love to hear ideas from other folks!
chj 13y ago
I am not sure if this is a share API feature, but it is a problem I am struggling with. We have an app using sandbox app folder(we don't want to mess with user's full dropbox file system), but then problem is that users can not cooperate within a share folder. Here is what I'd like to have: A user shares a folder within app folder, then when another user accepts the request, then 1) keep the same name and same path strictly, create intermediary paths if necessary; 2) don't proceed if conflicts happen. Please let me know if it is already doable in current state.

sintaxi 13y ago

Very excited by this.

carlosdp 13y ago

Excellent! I have wanted this for a long time.

gwen_bell_dang 13y ago

DANG Tech is Fucked - Only $499 until April 17! http:/www.gwenbell.com

dgorges 13y ago

I wanted this natively supported for ever. For now, I use Hazel* to sync every change inside an dropbox folder into an app folder. It works, but you know... * http://www.noodlesoft.com/hazel http://www.noodlesoft.com/hazel

usaar333 13y ago
May I ask what app you are using? It seems that the app has been set up to use App Folders, when, for your use case, it could be using the more liberal Full Dropbox or File Types permissions.

ksec 13y ago

Great more features are coming out from Dropbox. I am still hoping their April announcement will include a huge increase in storage capacity.