The Dropbox connector supports uploading to and downloading from the Dropbox cloud storage service.
Key Capabilities
- OAuth-based cloud storage integration with automatic token refresh
- Upload and download from the connected Dropbox account with recursive subdirectory support
- File filtering, deletion management, and overwrite protection
- Comprehensive proxy support for enterprise network environments
- Optional caching to ensure only new or updated files are downloaded
Overview
Each Dropbox connector connects to a specified Dropbox storage account. Within the remote storage, you set a single folder as the upload target, and a list of folders as the download target.
Files that reach the Dropbox connector in the flow are uploaded to the upload target folder, and files found in the download target folder are downloaded and entered into the flow. The connector supports upload and download filters to send and receive only specific file names and/or file extensions.
Account authentication uses OAuth, so you must enter account credentials in an external site portal the first time the connector connects. The external portal generates an OAuth token that the connector uses to connect, then the connector handles token refresh automatically.
Connector Configuration
This section contains all of the configurable connector properties.
Settings Tab
Authorization
Use the Connect button to authenticate the connector with the storage service the first time. You are redirected to a site login portal. After you provide the account credentials, an authentication token is returned to and stored for repeat use.
Send
Settings related to uploading to the remote storage.
| Setting | Description |
|---|
| Remote Folder | Files processed by the connector are uploaded to this folder. |
| Overwrite | Whether to overwrite or skip existing files. |
| Namespace Id | Points the connector to a Team folder in Dropbox Business. Leave blank if you are not connecting to a Team folder. |
Receive
Settings related to downloading from the remote storage.
| Setting | Description |
|---|
| Remote Folder | The remote folder from which files are downloaded. Use a comma-delimited list to specify multiple paths. |
| File Mask | A glob pattern that determines which files within the Remote Path should be downloaded (for example, *.txt). |
| Delete | Check this to delete successfully downloaded files from the remote storage. |
Caching
Settings related to caching and comparing files between multiple downloads.
| Setting | Description |
|---|
| File Size Comparison | Check this to keep a record of downloaded file names and sizes. Previously downloaded files are skipped unless the file size is different than the last download. |
| Timestamp Comparison | Check this to keep a record of downloaded file names and last-modified timestamps. Previously downloaded files are skipped unless the timestamp is different than the last download. |
When you enable caching, the file names are case-insensitive. For example, the connector cannot distinguish between TEST.TXT and test.txt.
Advanced Tab
Advanced Settings
Settings not included in the previous categories.
| Setting | Description |
|---|
| Recurse remote subdirectories | Whether to download files in subfolders of the target remote path. |
| Timeout | The length of time (in seconds) the server waits for a connection response before throwing a timeout error. |
| Receive Filter | A glob pattern filter to determine which files should be downloaded from the remote storage (for example, *.txt). You can use negative patterns to indicate files that should not be downloaded (for example, -*.tmp). Use this setting when you need multiple File Mask patterns. Multiple patterns can be separated by commas, with later filters taking priority except when an exact match is found. |
| Local File Scheme | A scheme for assigning filenames to messages that are output by the connector. You can use macros in your filenames dynamically to include information such as identifiers and timestamps. For more information, see Macros. |
| Processing Delay | The amount of time (in seconds) by which the processing of files placed in the Transactions tab is delayed. This is a legacy setting. Best practice is to use a File connector to manage local file systems instead of this setting. |
Proxy Settings
Message
Logging
Miscellaneous
Automation Tab
Automation Settings
Settings related to the automatic processing of files by the connector.
| Setting | Description |
|---|
| Send Automation | Whether files arriving at the connector are automatically uploaded. |
| Retry Interval | The amount of time before a failed upload is retried. |
| Max Attempts | The maximum number of times the connector processes the input file. Success is measured based on a successful server acknowledgement. If you set this to 0, the connector retries the file indefinitely. |
| Receive | Whether the connector should automatically poll the remote download path for files to download. |
| Interval | The interval between automatic download attempts. |
| Minutes Past the Hour | The minutes offset for an hourly schedule. Only applicable when the interval setting above is set to Hourly. For example, if this value is set to 5, the automation service downloads at 1:05, 2:05, 3:05, etc. |
| Time | The time of day that the attempt should occur. Only applicable when the interval setting above is set to Daily, Weekly, or Monthly. |
| Day | The day on which the attempt should occur. Only applicable when the interval setting above is set to Weekly or Monthly. |
| Minutes | The number of minutes to wait before attempting the download. Only applicable when the interval setting above is set to Minute. |
| Cron Expression | A five-position string representing a cron expression that determines when the attempt should occur. Only applicable when the interval setting above is set to Advanced. |
Alerts Tab
SLAs Tab
Establishing a Connection
To establish a connection with the Dropbox connector, use the Connect button on the Settings tab to be directed to a login portal site. Enter your account credentials in this portal; it returns an authentication token to the connector. This process is only required the first time the connector connects to the storage service.
Uploading and Downloading
Upload
To upload files, set the Remote Folder in the Send portion of the Settings page to the folder where files should be uploaded. Each Dropbox connector uploads to a single folder location.
Use the Overwrite remote files option to indicate whether files that already exist in the container should be overwritten or skipped.
After configuration is complete, files placed in the connector Transactions tab are uploaded to the remote storage. If Send Automation is enabled, the upload happens automatically; otherwise, you can send individual files from the Transactions tab.
Download
To download files, set the Remote Folder in the Receive portion of the Settings page to the folder from where files should be downloaded. Use a comma-delimited list to specify multiple folders.
Use the File Mask to set a glob filter (for example *.txt) that limits the downloads to files matching the filter. To specify multiple filters, use the Receive Filter option on the Advanced tab.
Use Delete to specify whether successfully downloaded files should be removed from the remote storage.
Macros
Examples
