File object in Python SDK

File objects in the Python Box SDK are populated with different properties depending on how they are created. For example, if I get a file using client.file and request its content_created_at property, I get an error. For example,

aFile = client.file(my_id)

print(aFile.content_created_at)

gives me

KeyError: 'content_created_at'

However, a search which is verified to retrieve the same document

aFiles = client.search(my_doc_name,limit=100,offset=0, result_type="file", content_types=["name"])
for aFile in aFiles:
    if(aFile.object_id == str(my_id)):
        print(aFile.content_created_at)

gives me a successful result (which the forum software seems to believe is a phone number, but you get the idea):

20***phone number removed for privacy***T10:34:***phone number removed for privacy***:00

Can anyone explain to me

why these results are different, and
how I can get the content_created_at value for a file that I have retrieved based on its ID?

Thanks,

Peter

jmoldow_box

March 08, 2017 15:55

Hi,

Many of the Client methods do not make API calls directly. Client.file(), Client.folder(), etc. are examples of this. Instead, they give you an empty object which is configured to make API calls that are rooted at that object. If I wanted to delete a folder, I could call client.file(my_id).delete(). If I wanted to rename it, I'd call client.file(my_id).rename(). In your case, you just want to GET information, so you should do file = client.file(my_id).get(). After that, you should be able to do file.content_created_at.

Whereas Client.search() actually makes the search API call directly, which is why the object you get from there already has the data you want.

larsenp_lsc

March 09, 2017 06:19

Thanks. That did the trick. It would be great if the documentation made it a little clearer. Maybe I'm a little thick, but a note or a code sample in the documentation for the file method could make this a lot clearer.

Comments