What's the best way to fetch multiple file details using Google Drive API?

Other Questions Google drive
1

Hey everyone, I’m trying to update the metadata for a bunch of files in my Google Drive. I’ve got their IDs, but I’m not sure how to get the latest info efficiently.

I know I could use the file/get method for each file, but that seems super slow if I’m dealing with lots of files. I looked into the file/list method with the ‘q’ parameter, hoping to do a batch query. But it looks like it doesn’t support something like ‘id IN (file1, file2, file3)’.

Does anyone know a smart way to grab updated metadata for multiple files at once? I’d really appreciate any tips or tricks to make this process faster. Thanks in advance for your help!

2

Another approach worth considering is using the files.generateIds method in combination with files.list. This works by first generating unique file IDs and then creating custom properties for your files with those IDs. Once the properties are set, you can query files.list for this custom property to fetch details for multiple files simultaneously. While this method requires some initial setup and later cleanup of the custom properties, it can be more efficient for ongoing operations compared to making numerous individual API calls.

3

hey, ev ried files.batchGet? its awesome, lets u get 100 file details at once. group ur IDs and fire off a call instead of one by one. hope it speeds up things!

4

I’ve dealt with a similar situation before, and I found that using the files.batchGet method was a game-changer for fetching multiple file details efficiently. It allows you to request metadata for up to 100 files in a single API call, which significantly reduces the number of requests you need to make.

Here’s how I approached it:

  1. Group your file IDs into batches of 100 or fewer.
  2. For each batch, make a single files.batchGet request, passing the file IDs as a comma-separated list in the ‘fileIds’ parameter.
  3. Specify the fields you need in the ‘fields’ parameter to minimize unnecessary data transfer.

This method is much faster than individual file.get calls, especially when dealing with a large number of files. It’s also more efficient than trying to use files.list with complex queries.

Just remember to handle any rate limiting or quota issues if you’re working with a very large number of files. You might need to add some delays between batch requests in that case.