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I am trying to download a file from Google Drive using the PyDrive V3 Version.

  1. I am really confused about the functions get_media() and export() which are to download the files. What is the difference?

  2. The get_media() function works with excel files and not csv files whereas the export() function works with csv files and not excel files. What is the reason? I have tried changing the mimetype based on the file but that does not change the results.

Gayatri
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1 Answers1

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Well I found the answer:

https://developers.google.com/drive/v3/web/manage-downloads

Depending on the type of file,the function used to download the file would change.

Depending on the type of download you'd like to perform — a file, a Google Document, or a content link — you'll use one of the following URLs:

  • Download a file — files.get with alt=media file resource
  • Download and export a Google Doc — files.export
  • Link a user to a file — webContentLink from the file resource

I had excel files uploaded into Google Drive which were not changed so get_media() function worked with those whereas I had some csv files which were changed using Google Sheets and hence export function worked with that.

I do not like this way of separating functions for downloading content though. This is really confusing.

Gayatri
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