Files¶

Using pygsuite, creating and manipulating Google Drive files is easy (and maybe even fun).

Creating files¶

Creating a file in pygsuite is fast and simple:

from pygsuite import File

my_file = File.create(name="My first file")
print(my_file.url)

Specifying a folder location¶

You can add a list of parent folder IDs that will contain the new file:

from pygsuite import File

my_file = File.create(
    name="My first file",
    parent_folder_ids=["1EdtzquPnXhDNNo_gjUOJMl83Sm9BV3la"],
)
print(my_file.url)

Specifying a file type¶

Files of a given type can be created by providing the MIME type:

from pygsuite import File
from pygsuite.enums import MimeType

my_file = File.create(
    name="My first spreadsheet",
    parent_folder_ids=["1EdtzquPnXhDNNo_gjUOJMl83Sm9BV3la"],
    type=MimeType.SHEETS,
)
print(my_file.url)

The type can be given directly as a string MIME type name, or using the MimeType enumeration, which includes a host of common MIME types (e.g. SHEETS, DOCS, SLIDES, PDF, JPEG, MS_EXCEL, etc.).

Specifying content in the file¶

To create a non-empty file, the content of the file can be provided as a MediaFileUpload, MediaIoBaseUpload, or simply bytes of the object (BytesIO). This can be especially useful for saving objects (e.g. images, data) that are stored in Python's memory to a Google Drive location:

from io import BytesIO
import requests

from pygsuite import File

response = requests.get("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Google_2015_logo.svg")
image_in_bytes = BytesIO(response.content)

new_file = File.create(
    name="Google Logo",
    mimetype=MimeType.SVG,
    media_body=image_in_bytes,
)

print(new_file.url)

Uploading files¶

A common way to create a new Google Drive file is to upload a local file, or one existing in memory.

from pygsuite import File
from pygsuite.enums import MimeType

text_file = File.upload(
    filepath="/path/to/file.txt",
    name="My Text File",
    mimetype=MimeType.PLAIN_TEXT,
)

print(text_file.url)

Specifying an upload location¶

Uploading files shares many of the same options with creating files, such as specifying the upload location(s):

from pygsuite import File
from pygsuite.enums import MimeType

text_file = File.upload(
    filepath="/path/to/file.txt",
    name="My Text File",
    parent_folder_ids=["1EdtzquPnXhDNNo_gjUOJMl83Sm9BV3la"],
    mimetype=MimeType.PLAIN_TEXT,
)

print(text_file.url)

Converting to Google¶

Converting a file to a Google Document format can be handy when uploading files that will later be used in Google Drive. For instance, if you want to upload an Excel file and simultaneously convert it to a Google Sheet:

from pygsuite import File
from pygsuite.enums import MimeType, GoogleDocFormat

new_sheets = File.upload(
    filepath="/path/to/file.xlsx",
    name="My Spreadsheet",
    mimetype=MimeType.MS_EXCEL,
    convert_to=GoogleDocFormat.SHEETS,
)

print(new_sheets.url)

Fetching files¶

Commonly, you may want to "get or create" a file—this can be achieved using the get_safe method, in which a new file is created if a matching one cannot be found:

from pygsuite import File
from pygsuite.enums import MimeType

new_or_existing = File.get_safe(
    name="My Spreadsheet",
    parent_folder_ids=["1EdtzquPnXhDNNo_gjUOJMl83Sm9BV3la"],
    mimetype=MimeType.MS_EXCEL,
)

print(new_or_existing.url)

Tip

To confirm if a new file has been created in the get_safe process, look to your logs! If so, you will see something like this: No matching file found, creating file now...

Fetching files outside your Drive¶

Similar to many other Drive objects and methods, use the support_all_drives parameter to specify a search that includes objects outside your personal Drive that may be shared with / created by you:

from pygsuite import File
from pygsuite.enums import MimeType

new_or_existing = File.get_safe(
    name="My Friend's Spreadsheet",
    parent_folder_ids=["1EdtzquPnXhDNNo_gjUOJMl83Sm9BV3la"],
    mimetype=MimeType.MS_EXCEL,
    support_all_drives=True,
)

print(new_or_existing.url)

Copying files¶

Coming soon!

Moving files¶

Move files in Google Drive easily by specifying the new destination(s) of the file:

from pygsuite import File

my_file = File.create(name="My first file")

my_file.move(
    destination_folder_ids=["1EdtzquPnXhDNNo_gjUOJMl83Sm9BV3la"],
)

File metadata¶

By default, you can access key pieces of metadata about a file:

from pygsuite import File

my_file = File.create(name="My first file")

print(my_file.id)
print(my_file.kind)
print(my_file.name)
print(my_file.mimetype)
print(my_file.url)

Getting additional metadata¶

Other information about a file can be fetched for a given file:

from pygsuite import File

my_file = File.create(name="My first file")
created_time = my_file.fetch_metadata(fields=["createdTime"]).get("createdTime")
print(created_time)

Tip

For a full list of what fields are available, review the Google documentation.

Get all metadata¶

You can also fetch all metadata available for a file, though it won't necessarily be your fastest API call:

from pygsuite import File

my_file = File.create(name="My first file")
metadata = my_file.fetch_metadata(fields=["*"])
print(metadata)

File comments¶

View comments data for a given file:

from pygsuite import File
from pygsuite.enums import MimeType

team_document = File.get_safe(
    name="Project Brief",
    mimetype=MimeType.DOCS,
)

for comment in team_document.comments:
    print(comment)

You can update the sharing permissions on your file:

from pygsuite import File
from pygsuite.enums import PermissionType

my_file = File.create(name="Vacation Ideas")
my_file.share(
    role=PermissionType.READER,
    user="spouse@gmail.com",
)

Make a file accessible by anyone with a link (careful with this one at work!):

from pygsuite import File
from pygsuite.enums import PermissionType

my_file = File.create(name="Vacation Ideas")
my_file.share(
    role=PermissionType.READER,
    anyone=True,
)

Downloading files¶