dbox

A Node.JS convenience wrapper around the Dropbox API. Simplifies OAuth handshake and removes HTTP ceremony.

Installation

I always recommend you bundle your dependencies with your application. To do this, create a package.json file in the root of your project with the minimum information...

{
  "name": "yourapplication",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "dependencies": {
    "dbox": "0.6.1"
  }
}

Then run the following command using npm...

npm install

OR, if you just want to start playing with the library run...

npm install dbox

API Overview

dbox methods (where dbox is set from requiring the dbox library)...

app                 <-- creates application object

app methods (where app is created from the above app call)...

requesttoken        <-- creates request token for getting request token and authorization url
accesstoken         <-- creates access token for creating a client object
client              <-- creates client object with access to users dropbox account

client methods (where client is created from the above client call)...

account             <-- view account
mkdir               <-- make directory
mv                  <-- move file or directory
cp                  <-- copy file or directory
rm                  <-- remove file or directory
put                 <-- upload file
get                 <-- download file
metadata            <-- get file or directory information
revisions           <-- get revision history
restore             <-- restore previous version
search              <-- search directory
shares              <-- create link to view file
media               <-- create streamable link to file
thumbnails          <-- get thumbnail of file
copyref             <-- create copy reference to file
delta               <-- get list of delta entries
stream              <-- creates readable stream
readdir             <-- recursively reads directory

How to Use

Creating a functional dbox client is a four step process.

1. create an app using application credentials provided by dropbox
2. obtain request token to use for generation access token
3. have user visit authorization URL to grant access to your application
4. create a client using access token that was generated earlier

Step 1

var dbox  = require("dbox")
var app   = dbox.app({ "app_key": "umdez34678ck01fx", "app_secret": "tjm89017sci88o6" })

Step 2

Authorization is a three step process.

a) Get a request token...

app.requesttoken(function(status, request_token){
  console.log(request_token)
})

b) User must visit the url to grant authorization to the client...

https://www.dropbox.com/1/oauth/authorize?oauth_token=#{ request_token.oauth_token }

c) Generate our access token with the request token...

app.accesstoken(request_token, function(status, access_token){
  console.log(access_token)
})

Step 3

var client = app.client(access_token)

Now we have a client that gives us access to all the api functionality.

Client Methods

account([options,] callback)

Returns account information.

client.account(function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

output of reply returns...

{ 
  uid: 123456789,
  display_name: 'Brock Whitten',
  email: '[email protected]',
  country: 'CA',
  referral_link: 'https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTc0NzYwNDc5',
  quota_info: { 
    shared: 1100727791, 
    quota: 2415919104, 
    normal: 226168599
  }
}

mkdir(path, [options,] callback)

Creates directory at specified location.

client.mkdir("foo", options, function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

output of reply returns...

{
  "size": "0 bytes",
  "rev": "1f477dd351f",
  "thumb_exists": false,
  "bytes": 0,
  "modified": "Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:21:30 +0000",
  "path": "/foo",
  "is_dir": true,
  "icon": "folder",
  "root": "sandbox",
  "revision": 5023410
}

mv(from_path, to_path, [options,] callback)

Moves file or directory to a new location.

client.mv("foo", "bar", function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

output of reply returns...

{
  "size": "0 bytes",
  "rev": "irt77dd3728",
  "thumb_exists": false,
  "bytes": 0,
  "modified": "Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:21:30 +0000",
  "path": "/bar",
  "is_dir": true,
  "icon": "folder",
  "root": "sandbox",
  "revision": 5023410
}

cp(from_path, to_path, [options,] callback)

Copies a file or directory to a new location.

client.cp("bar", "baz", function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

{
  "size": "0 bytes",
  "rev": "irt77dd3728",
  "thumb_exists": false,
  "bytes": 0,
  "modified": "Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:21:30 +0000",
  "path": "/baz",
  "is_dir": true,
  "icon": "folder",
  "root": "sandbox",
  "revision": 5023410
}

rm(path, [options,] callback)

Removes a file or directory.

client.rm("README.txt", function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

output of reply returns...

{
  "size": "0 bytes",
  "is_deleted": true,
  "bytes": 0,
  "thumb_exists": false,
  "rev": "1f33043551f",
  "modified": "Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:21:30 +0000",
  "path": "/README.txt",
  "is_dir": false,
  "icon": "page_white_text",
  "root": "sandbox",
  "mime_type": "text/plain",
  "revision": 492341
}

put(path, data, [options,] callback)

Creates or modifies a file with given data. data may be a string or a buffer.

client.put("foo/hello.txt", "here is some text", function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

output of reply returns...

{
  "size": "225.4KB",
  "rev": "35e97029684fe",
  "thumb_exists": false,
  "bytes": 230783,
  "modified": "Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:55:38 +0000",
  "path": "/foo/hello.txt",
  "is_dir": false,
  "icon": "page_white_text",
  "root": "sandbox",
  "mime_type": "text/plain",
  "revision": 220823
}

get(path, [options,] callback)

Pulls down file (available as a buffer) with its metadata.

client.get("foo/hello.txt", function(status, reply, metadata){
  console.log(reply.toString(), metadata)
})

output of reply.toString() returns...

here is some text

output of metadata returns...

{
  "revision": 11,
  "rev": "b07a93bb3",
  "thumb_exists": false,
  "bytes": 17,
  "modified": "Sat, 12 May 2012 19:31:08 +0000",
  "client_mtime": "Sat, 12 May 2012 19:30:52 +0000",
  "path": "/foo/hello.txt",
  "is_dir": false,
  "icon": "page_white_text",
   "root": "app_folder",
   "mime_type": "text/plain",
  "size": "17 bytes"
}

metadata(path, [options,] callback)

Retrieves file or directory metadata.

// available options...
var options = {
  file_limit         : 10000,              // optional
  hash               : ...,                // optional
  list               : true,               // optional
  include_deleted    : false,              // optional
  rev                : 7,                  // optional
  locale:            : "en",               // optional
  root:              : "sandbox"           // optional
}

client.metadata("Getting_Started.pdf", options, function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

output of reply returns...

{
  "size": "225.4KB",
  "rev": "35e97029684fe",
  "thumb_exists": false,
  "bytes": 230783,
  "modified": "Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:55:38 +0000",
  "path": "/Getting_Started.pdf",
  "is_dir": false,
  "icon": "page_white_acrobat",
  "root": "sandbox",
  "mime_type": "application/pdf",
  "revision": 220823
}

revisions(path, [options,] callback)

Obtains metadata for the previous revisions of a file.

// available options...
var options = {
  rev_limit          : 10,                 // optional
  locale:            : "en"                // optional
}

client.revisions("foo/hello.txt", options, function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

output of reply returns...

[
  {
    "is_deleted": true,
    "revision": 4,
    "rev": "40000000d",
    "thumb_exists": false,
    "bytes": 0,
    "modified": "Wed, 20 Jul 2011 22:41:09 +0000",
    "path": "foo/hello.txt",
    "is_dir": false,
    "icon": "page_white",
    "root": "sandbox",
    "mime_type": "text/plain",
    "size": "0 bytes"
  },
  {
    "revision": 1,
    "rev": "10000000d",
    "thumb_exists": false,
    "bytes": 3,
    "modified": "Wed, 20 Jul 2011 22:40:43 +0000",
    "path": "foo/hello.txt",
    "is_dir": false,
    "icon": "page_white",
    "root": "sandbox",
    "mime_type": "text/plain",
    "size": "3 bytes"
  }
]

restore(path, rev, [options,] callback)

Restores a file path to a previous revision.

client.revisions("foo/hello.txt", 4, function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

output of reply returns...

{
  "is_deleted": true,
  "revision": 4,
  "rev": "40000000d",
  "thumb_exists": false,
  "bytes": 0,
  "modified": "Wed, 20 Jul 2011 22:41:09 +0000",
  "path": "/foo/hello.txt",
  "is_dir": false,
  "icon": "page_white",
  "root": "sandbox",
  "mime_type": "text/plain",
  "size": "0 bytes"
}

search(path, query, [options,] callback)

Returns metadata for all files and directories that match the search query.

var options = {
  file_limit         : 10000,              // optional
  include_deleted    : false,              // optional
  locale:            : "en"                // optional
}

client.search("foo", "hello", options, function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

output of reply returns...

[
  {
    "size": "0 bytes",
    "rev": "35c1f029684fe",
    "thumb_exists": false,
    "bytes": 0,
    "modified": "Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:13:43 +0000",
    "path": "/foo/hello.txt",
    "is_dir": false,
    "icon": "page_white_text",
    "root": "sandbox",
    "mime_type": "text/plain",
    "revision": 220191
  }
]

shares(path, [options,] callback)

Creates and/or returns a shareable link to a file or directory.

client.shares("foo/hello.txt", options, function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

output of reply returns...

{
  "url": "http://db.tt/APqhX1",
  "expires": "Sat, 17 Aug 2011 02:34:33 +0000"
}

media(path, [options,] callback)

Creates and/or returns a shareable link to a file or directory. This endpoint is similar to /shares but content is streamable.

client.media("foo/hello.txt", function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

output of reply returns...

{
  "url": "http://www.dropbox.com/s/m/a2mbDa2",
  "expires": "Thu, 16 Sep 2011 01:01:25 +0000"
}

thumbnails(path, [options,] callback)

Gets a thumbnail for an image.

client.thumbnails("foo/koala.jpg", function(status, reply, metadata){
  console.log(metadata);

  require('fs').writeFile('koala_small.jpg', reply, function () {
    console.log('Thumbnail saved!');
  });
})

output of reply is a buffer which should be sent to a new image file.

output of metadata returns...

{
  "revision": 13,
  "rev": "d07a93bb3",
  "thumb_exists": true,
  "bytes": 780831,
  "modified": "Sat, 12 May 2012 19:48:59 +0000",
  "client_mtime": "Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:32:31 +0000",
  "path": "/foo/koala.jpg",
  "is_dir": false,
  "icon": "page_white_picture",
  "root": "app_folder",
  "mime_type": "image/jpeg",
  "size": "762.5 KB"
} 

cpref(path, [options,] callback)

client.cpref("song.mp3", function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

output of reply returns...

{
  expires: 'Thu, 03 Apr 2042 22:33:49 +0000',
  copy_ref: 'ALGf72Jrc3A0ZTh5MzA4Mg'
}

delta([options,] callback)

client.delta(function(status, reply){
  console.log(reply)
})

output of reply returns...

{
  reset: true,
  cursor: 'AkMCE0f1CsMA7tobhXR1vwEZaM1KjFqTNjxgWITCks6oeJxjKBL2Z2Co0WOp_rSOgYHxJwMQAAAyKwSY',
  has_more: false,
  entries: [
    [ '/foo', [Object] ],
    [ '/bar', [Object] ]
  ]
}

readdir(path, callback)

Get an array of paths for all files and directories found in the given path. The method calls recursively to dropbox so it can take a long time to evaluate.

client.readdir('/', function(status, reply){
    console.log(reply)
})

Output of readdir returns...

['/','/foo','/bar']

License

Copyright 2011 Chloi Inc. All rights reserved.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.