How do I create a file in a folder?

Question

I have an Apps Script that creates multiple files and moves them into a folder. Is there a way to place the a file directly in a folder or do I first have to get the file then copy it to the appropriate folder and then removing it from the root folder like this:

folder=DocsList.createFolder("MyFolder");
var file=DocsList.createFile(blob);
file.addToFolder(folder);
file.removeFromFolder(DocsList.getRootFolder());

The problem with this is that if you open up Drive you see the file is first placed in the root folder then moved to MyFolder. So there is a bit of a lag until the execution of removeFromFolder.

Answer 1

Just tested the following code

function Test() {
  DocsList.createFolder('Folder1').createFolder('Subfolder1').createFile('File1', 'Empty');
}

It works as expected, i.e. created a new File1 document in newly created folder My Drive\Folder1\Subfolder1.

Answer 2

The DocsList no longer works and has been replaced by the DriveAPI , Google App Services and Advanced Google services .

Here I leave my test code , this code creates folders - subfolders - google files - pdf - and stores them in folders and subfolders in various ways, and I hope will be helpful

function Drive_2015() {   //busca un folder, si no lo hay lo crea y crea 2 sub carpetas un google document copiado en cada una de ellas
  var name='folder de prueba';
  var carpeta = DriveApp.getRootFolder().searchFolders("title contains '"+name+"'");
  if (carpeta.hasNext()===true) {    
      while (carpeta.hasNext()) {
      var folder = carpeta.next();
      Logger.log(folder.getName()+' '+folder.getId());
      }
  }else{
    var folder=DriveApp.getRootFolder().createFolder(name);

    var parent=DriveApp.getFolderById(folder.getId());   // get parent folder
    var folder2 =parent.createFolder('Subfolder');   // 1° way to create sub folder
    var folder3=folder.createFolder(name+1);// 2° way to create sub folder (and more easy)

    var doc = DocumentApp.create('Documento sta');
    var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.create('Spreadsheet sta');
    Utilities.sleep(300); // este retardo es para garantizar en el user-side la creacion del nuevo archivo
    var files = DriveApp.getFilesByName('Documento sta');// or Id var file = DriveApp.getFileById(doc.getId());
    while (files.hasNext()) {
      var file = files.next();
      Logger.log('ojo '+file.getName());
      file.makeCopy(folder3);
      file.makeCopy(folder2);
      var file2=file.makeCopy(folder);
      file2.setName('Acta individual del alumno')
      var blob = file2.getAs('application/pdf'); 
      var file2pdf = folder.createFile(blob);
      var file2pdf = DriveApp.getFileById(file2pdf.getId());
      var file2pdf=file2pdf.makeCopy(folder);
      Logger.log('se creó: '+file.getName()+' en la carpeta: '+folder.getName()+' el PDF es: '+file2pdf.getId());
      DriveApp.getFileById(file2pdf.getId()).setTrashed(true)
      DriveApp.getFileById(docid).setTrashed(true)
      }
  }
}

Answer 3

As of 2015, you should use the DriveApp service to manage files in Google Drive. DriveApp has a Folder class that allows you to create a file directly in a folder.

function createFilesInFolder() {
  //This creates the folder
  var folder = DriveApp.createFolder('My Folder');
  //This creates a file in the folder
  var file = folder.createFile('My File.txt', 
                               'Lorem ipsum', 
                               MimeType.PLAIN_TEXT);
}

Answer 4

I just wanted to comment (but don't have the 50 reputation points).

The reason the answer above works when the original post didn't is that .createFolder applies to both DocsList.createFolder (which creates the folder in the root directory) and to Folder.createFolder which creates a sub-folder in the current folder.

It may be obvious to everyone but me - but it took me a good while to realise :-)

Answer 5

GAS now allows a quicker method to move a file by using .moveTo The assumption is that you want to build a document that you can edit. This code allows you to create the folder, create the doc, move the doc, and finally, tap into the DocumentApp to edit the file.

Ex:

const saveTo = DriveApp.createFolder("FolderName").next().getId();
const newDoc = DocumentApp.create("New Doc"), 
  newDocId = DriveApp.getFileById(newDoc.getId()).moveTo(saveTo);