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peytonshc's avatar
peytonshc
Explorer | Level 3
8 years ago

Unable to download file to a desired path via files_download_to_file using the python api

I am using the files_download_to_file function to try and download a file from my dropbox to a specific location.  As parameters I am giving it '/home/user/Desktop' and it is saying IOError: [Errno 21] Is a directory.  I am not sure what is wrong with this and would greatly appreciate any support.

  • Greg-DB's avatar
    Greg-DB
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    When calling files_download_to_file, the `download_path` parameter should be the full local path where you want to save the file, including the file name and extension. So, instead of '/home/user/Desktop', you should supply something like '/home/user/Desktop/filename.ext'. 

    • peytonshc's avatar
      peytonshc
      Explorer | Level 3

      I tried that before but got TypeError: 'FileMetadata' object is not iterable when I try and write it.

      • Greg-DB's avatar
        Greg-DB
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        It looks like there's a mistake in the documentation (we'll get that fixed up), but the files_download_to_file method actually just returns a FileMetadata object (not a tuple), so make sure you're not trying to unpack the result.

        I.e., your code should look something like `metadata = dbx.files_download_to_file(...)` not `metadata, result = dbx.files_download_to_file(...)`.

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