Extracting Google Drive file information into a spreadsheet

Other Questions Google drive
1

I’m trying to pull file details from my Google Drive and put them into a Google Sheet. I found some code online but it’s not working. Here’s what I’m dealing with:

function getFileInfo(folderName) {
  let folder = DriveApp.getFoldersByName(folderName).next();
  let files = folder.getFiles();
  let sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
  sheet.clear();

  sheet.appendRow(['Name', 'Created', 'Size', 'Link', 'Download', 'Info', 'Kind']);

  while (files.hasNext()) {
    let file = files.next();
    if (file.getMimeType() !== MimeType.GOOGLE_SHEETS) {
      let row = [
        file.getName(),
        file.getCreationDate(),
        file.getSize(),
        file.getUrl(),
        `https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=${file.getId()}`,
        file.getDescription(),
        file.getMimeType()
      ];
      sheet.appendRow(row);
    }
  }
}

When I run this, I get an error saying it can’t find the ‘next’ function for Files. Any ideas on how to fix this or a better way to do what I’m trying to do? Thanks!

2

hey ethan, i think ur problem is with the .next() method. try using a for loop instead:

let files = folder.getFiles();
for (let file of files) {
  // ur code here
}

this should work better for iterating thru the files. hope it helps!

3

The issue you’re encountering is likely due to the iterator method. Instead of using ‘while’ and ‘next()’, you can simplify your code with a ‘for…of’ loop. Here’s a modified version that should work:

function getFileInfo(folderName) {
  let folder = DriveApp.getFoldersByName(folderName).next();
  let files = folder.getFiles();
  let sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
  sheet.clear();

  sheet.appendRow(['Name', 'Created', 'Size', 'Link', 'Download', 'Info', 'Kind']);

  for (let file of files) {
    if (file.getMimeType() !== MimeType.GOOGLE_SHEETS) {
      let row = [
        file.getName(),
        file.getDateCreated(),
        file.getSize(),
        file.getUrl(),
        `https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=${file.getId()}`,
        file.getDescription(),
        file.getMimeType()
      ];
      sheet.appendRow(row);
    }
  }
}

This should resolve the ‘next’ function error and allow you to iterate through your files successfully. Let me know if you encounter any other issues.

4

I’ve had similar issues when working with Google Drive API. One thing that helped me was using the getFileIterator() method instead of getFiles(). It’s more reliable for handling large folders. Here’s a tweaked version of your code that worked for me:

function getFileInfo(folderName) {
  let folder = DriveApp.getFoldersByName(folderName).next();
  let fileIterator = folder.getFileIterator();
  let sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
  sheet.clear();

  sheet.appendRow(['Name', 'Created', 'Size', 'Link', 'Download', 'Info', 'Kind']);

  while (fileIterator.hasNext()) {
    let file = fileIterator.next();
    if (file.getMimeType() !== MimeType.GOOGLE_SHEETS) {
      let row = [
        file.getName(),
        file.getDateCreated(),
        file.getSize(),
        file.getUrl(),
        `https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=${file.getId()}`,
        file.getDescription(),
        file.getMimeType()
      ];
      sheet.appendRow(row);
    }
  }
}

This approach has been more stable in my experience, especially when dealing with folders containing numerous files. Give it a try and see if it resolves your issue.