Allow people uploads files to same dropbox folder Ruby

Question

I am very new to this, Sorry if this is a naive question. I've been through the ruby tutorial for Dropbox API. Still confused on where should I start.

My situation:

I am running a copyshop. And usually my customers either bring their usb sticks OR upload to gmail then download in my shop OR upload to dropbox then print thier docs/pdfs/fotos.

And one day a customer ask me if I know dropbox. I say YES, I know it. And he ask me if it's possible to share a folder with him, then he can put his files into the folder at home, then come to my shop, open it and print, neat!!

But...Other clients also want to use this service, and they don't want their files exposure to other people (maybe private fotos, secret business plan, important letters...etc). The other problem is I want to make those who do not have dropbox also could upload files to my Dropbox folder that they can come and print.

Why use dropbox is because it's free for till 18G. And When the customer comes to print, I can remove the files, so 2-10G will be enough for 1-3 days buffering.

What I am thinking is to implement a website that allows people to upload DOCs/PDFs/Photos and save these files to my dropbox folder.

• For people who have dropbox accounts, they will have a folder called copyshop in their dropbox folder, and they drop files as they usually do. And I will have a folder App/copyshop/ , each one puts files in their copyshop folder will appears in my dropbox as a sub-folder under my App/copyshop folder, e.g. App/copyshop/Tom , App/copyshop/Mary ...etc.

• For non-dropboxers they can take advantage of uploading to my website, then save it to my dropbox folder.

Is this possible with Dropbox API? From the official statement:

The API provides methods to read and write from Dropbox securely, so your users can bring all their important files with them to your app. Any changes they make will be saved back to all their computers, tablets and mobile phones.

It looks like not a recommendation way to do it.

Thank you! Every reply is appreciate.

Answer 1

if you make a site to upload files there is no need for dropbox, just let them upload to a map that is available in the shop.

To make it safe with dropbox would be a lot of work, i suppose customers don't want their files exposed to others, only suitable for regular customers, for occasional customers the best method i can think of is let them make a public link of a dropbox file and send it to you.

Another drawback of dropbox is that the size of shared files is added to both the the sharer and the shared so you could get in trouble with the limits. You could also make a script that monitors a public dropboxfolder and immediately on arrival moves the files to a safe location not accessible from others.

I suppose FTP would be better manageable, you could give big customers their own map and password and occasional users a just-write, don't read the upload of others security.

Answer 2

Answer from the dropboxer,

Yes, this would be possible. There are a number of ways you might do this, and the method you choose will be up to you, so I'll just touch on a few.

1. Without even using the API, you could have your customers enable and use this feature to send you a read-only link to any file or folder in their Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/help/167 This isn't a shared folder exactly, but it sounds like it should be sufficient.

2. You could use the API to build an app that would essentially do 1, but help them along with it. Essentially, you would have them authorize your app, and then let them select a file or folder, on which you would call /files (GET) (or /shares if that is more convenient for whatever reason) to download or share the files.

Hope this helps!
Greg