Dropbox::API - Dropbox Ruby API client
A Ruby client for the Dropbox REST API.
Goal:
To deliver a more Rubyesque experience when using the Dropbox API.
Current state:
First release, whole API covered.
Important!!!
From version 0.2.0, Dropbox::API::File#delete
and Dropbox::API::Dir#delete
are gone!!
The reason is that it's based on Hashie::Mash and was screwing Hash#delete.
It is replaced with Dropbox::API::File#destroy
and Dropbox::API::Dir#destroy
.
Installation
Dropbox::API is available on RubyGems, so:
gem install dropbox-api
Or in your Gemfile:
gem "dropbox-api"
Configuration
In order to use this client, you need to have an app created on https://www.dropbox.com/developers/apps.
Once you have it, put this configuration somewhere in your code, before you start working with the client.
Dropbox::API::Config.app_key = YOUR_APP_KEY
Dropbox::API::Config.app_secret = YOUR_APP_SECRET
Dropbox::API::Config.mode = "sandbox" # if you have a single-directory app
# Dropbox::API::Config.mode = "dropbox" # if your app has access to the whole dropbox
Dropbox::API::Client
The client is the base for all communication with the API and wraps around almost all calls available in the API.
Web-based Authorization
In order to create a Dropbox::API::Client object, you need to have the configuration set up for OAuth. Second thing you need is to have the user authorize your app using OAuth. Here's a short intro on how to do this:
consumer = Dropbox::API::OAuth.consumer(:authorize)
request_token = consumer.get_request_token
# Store the token and secret so after redirecting we have the same request token
session[:token] = request_token.token
session[:token_secret] = request_token.secret
request_token.authorize_url(:oauth_callback => 'http://yoursite.com/callback')
# Here the user goes to Dropbox, authorizes the app and is redirected
# This would be typically run in a Rails controller
hash = { oauth_token: session[:token], oauth_token_secret: session[:token_secret]}
request_token = OAuth::RequestToken.from_hash(consumer, hash)
oauth_verifier = params[:oauth_verifier]
result = request_token.get_access_token(:oauth_verifier => oauth_verifier)
Now that you have the oauth token and secret, you can create a new instance of the Dropbox::API::Client, like this:
client = Dropbox::API::Client.new :token => result.token, :secret => result.secret
Rake-based authorization
Dropbox::API supplies you with a helper rake which will authorize a single client. This is useful for development and testing.
In order to have this rake available, put this on your Rakefile:
require "dropbox-api"
require "dropbox-api/tasks"
Dropbox::API::Tasks.install
You will notice that you have a new rake task - dropbox:authorize
When you call this Rake task, it will ask you to provide the app key and app secret. Afterwards it will present you with an authorize url on Dropbox.
Simply go to that url, authorize the app, then press enter in the console.
The rake task will output valid ruby code which you can use to create a client.
What differs this from the Dropbox Ruby SDK?
A few things:
- It's using the ruby oauth gem, instead of reinventing the wheel and implementing OAuth communication
- It treats files and directories as Ruby objects with appropriate classes, on which you can perform operations
Consider the following example which takes all files with names like 'test.txt' and copies them with a suffix '.old'
This is how it would look using the SDK:
# Because you need the session with the right access token, you need to create one instance per user
@session = DropboxSession.new(APP_TOKEN, APP_SECRET)
@session.set_access_token(ACCESS_TOKEN, ACCESS_SECRET)
@client = DropboxClient.new(@session, :app_folder)
# The result is a hash, so we need to call a method on the client, supplying the right key from the hash
@client.search('/', 'test.txt').each do |hash|
@client.file_copy(hash['path'], hash['path'] + ".old")
end
With Dropbox::API, you can clean it up, first you put the app token and secret in a config or initializer file:
Dropbox::API::Config.app_key = APP_TOKEN
Dropbox::API::Config.app_secret = APP_SECRET
And when you want to use it, just create a new client object with a specific access token and secret:
# The app token and secret are read from config, that's all you need to have a client ready for one user
@client = Dropbox::API::Client.new(:token => ACCESS_TOKEN, :secret => ACCESS_SECRET)
# The file is a Dropbox::API::File object, so you can call methods on it!
@client.search('test.txt').each do |file|
file.copy(file.path + ".old2")
end
What differs this from the dropbox gem?
Dropbox::API does not extend the Ruby primitives, like the dropbox gem:
https://github.com/RISCfuture/dropbox/tree/master/lib/dropbox/extensions
Dropbox::API::Client methods
Dropbox::API::Client#account
Returns a simple object with information about the account:
client.account # => #<Dropbox::API::Object>
For more info, see https://www.dropbox.com/developers/reference/api#account-info
Dropbox::API::Client#find
When provided a path, returns a single file or directory
client.find 'file.txt' # => #<Dropbox::API::File>
Dropbox::API::Client#destroy
Removes the file specified by path
Returns a Dropbox::API::File object of the deleted file
client.destroy 'file.txt' # => #<Dropbox::API::File>
Dropbox::API::Client#ls
When provided a path, returns a list of files or directories within that path
By default it's the root path:
client.ls # => [#<Dropbox::API::File>, #<Dropbox::API::Dir>]
But you can provide your own path:
client.ls 'somedir' # => [#<Dropbox::API::File>, #<Dropbox::API::Dir>]
Dropbox::API::Client#mkdir
Creates a new directory and returns a Dropbox::API::Dir object
client.mkdir 'new_dir' # => #<Dropbox::API::Dir>
Dropbox::API::Client#upload
Stores a file with a provided body under a provided name and returns a Dropbox::API::File object
client.upload 'file.txt', 'file body' # => #<Dropbox::API::File>
Dropbox::API::Client#chunked_upload
Stores a file from a File object under a provided name and returns a Dropbox::API::File object. It should be used for larger files.
client.chunked_upload 'file.txt', File.open('file.txt') # => #<Dropbox::API::File>
Dropbox::API::Client#download
Downloads a file with a provided name and returns it's content
client.download 'file.txt' # => 'file body'
Dropbox::API::Client#search
When provided a pattern, returns a list of files or directories within that path
By default it searches the root path:
client.search 'pattern' # => [#<Dropbox::API::File>, #<Dropbox::API::Dir>]
However, you can specify your own path:
client.search 'pattern', :path => 'somedir' # => [#<Dropbox::API::File>, #<Dropbox::API::Dir>]
Dropbox::API::Client#delta
Returns a cursor and a list of files that have changed since the cursor was generated.
delta = client.delta 'abc123'
delta.cursor # => 'def456'
delta.entries # => [#<Dropbox::API::File>, #<Dropbox::API::Dir>]
When called without a cursor, it returns all the files.
delta = client.delta 'abc123'
delta.cursor # => 'abc123'
delta.entries # => [#<Dropbox::API::File>, #<Dropbox::API::Dir>]
Optionally, you can set additional parameters, e.g. path_prefix. You can find all available parameters in the Dropbox API documentation.
delta = client.delta 'abc123', path_prefix: '/Path/To/My/Folder'
delta.cursor # => 'abc123'
delta.entries # => [#<Dropbox::API::File>, #<Dropbox::API::Dir>]
Dropbox::API::File and Dropbox::API::Dir methods
These methods are shared by Dropbox::API::File and Dropbox::API::Dir
Dropbox::API::File#copy | Dropbox::API::Dir#copy
Copies a file/directory to a new specified filename
file.copy 'newfilename.txt' # => #<Dropbox::API::File>
Dropbox::API::File#move | Dropbox::API::Dir#move
Moves a file/directory to a new specified filename
file.move 'newfilename.txt' # => #<Dropbox::API::File>
Dropbox::API::File#destroy | Dropbox::API::Dir#destroy
Deletes a file/directory
file.destroy 'newfilename.txt' # => #<Dropbox::API::File>
Dropbox::API::File methods
Dropbox::API::File#revisions
Returns an Array of Dropbox::API::File objects with appropriate rev attribute
For more info, see https://www.dropbox.com/developers/reference/api#revisions
Dropbox::API::File#restore
Restores a file to a specific revision
For more info, see https://www.dropbox.com/developers/reference/api#restore
Dropbox::API::File#share_url
Returns the link to a file page in Dropbox
For more info, see https://www.dropbox.com/developers/reference/api#shares
Dropbox::API::File#direct_url
Returns the link to a file in Dropbox
For more info, see https://www.dropbox.com/developers/reference/api#media
Dropbox::API::File#thumbnail
Returns the thumbnail for an image
For more info, see https://www.dropbox.com/developers/reference/api#thumbnail
Dropbox::API::File#download
Downloads a file and returns it's content
file.download # => 'file body'
Dropbox::API::Dir methods
Dropbox::API::Dir#ls
Returns a list of files or directorys within that directory
dir.ls # => [#<Dropbox::API::File>, #<Dropbox::API::Dir>]
Testing
In order to run tests, you need to have an application created and authorized. Put all tokens in spec/connection.yml and you're good to go.
Check out spec/connection.sample.yml for an example.
Releasing new version of gem
- Update version in lib/dropbox-api/version.rb and push to
master
- Create new GitHub release with tag name starting with
v
and the version, for examplev1.0.0
- Gem will be automatically built and pushed to rubygems.org with GitHub Action
Copyright and license
Copyright 2011 Zendesk
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0