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atelierpol's avatar
atelierpol
Explorer | Level 4
5 years ago

Replace (zip) file, keep link

Hello
Not long ago I learned that I can replace an existing file (in my case a zip containing a bunch of files) and the shared link stays the same. This was awesome for collecting press material in a easy-to-download zip file and just replace ist whenever something changed, without having to worry that people with the original link wouldn't find the file anymore.

I tried this again this morning and it seems like Dropbox changed the share link as soon as the file was replaced.

 

Did the way you handle shared links change (for this particular case)?

And yes, why wouldn't you notify your users?

This is an essential workflow that I've used for a long time and would cause all my old, shared files to be "lost" for everyone as soon as I want to change something in the zip file.

 

And what would be the «correct» way to deal with this? Just keep it in folders?

Thanks in adavance for your statement.

/Marc

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  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    5 years ago

    This sounds to be more on an OS change, since the Dropbox desktop application detects the file was first deleted, and then a file with an identical name was uploaded afterwards.

     

    What happens if you upload the file to the Dropbox site in the same folder directly? Does the shared link remain the same?

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    5 years ago

    Hi atelierpol, thanks for posting today!

     

    The behavior has remained the same, if you replace a file, then the shared link stays on the file and isn’t changed or removed.

     

    Are you uploading the file to the Dropbox site, replacing it in Explorer/Finder, or using the Dropbox desktop application by dragging and dropping the file there?

     

    Keep me posted!

    • atelierpol's avatar
      atelierpol
      Explorer | Level 4
      5 years ago

      Well that's overall good news, thanks for the info!

       

      I replace the file in Finder on my Mac by moving the new file with the same name to the original destination. This worked fine before.

      I've just tried it again with a test file and the link is broken, as soon as I replace the file. In the file history it shows that the file has been deleted before the new file appears...

      • Jay's avatar
        Jay
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        5 years ago

        This sounds to be more on an OS change, since the Dropbox desktop application detects the file was first deleted, and then a file with an identical name was uploaded afterwards.

         

        What happens if you upload the file to the Dropbox site in the same folder directly? Does the shared link remain the same?

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