Is it possible to copy a file from the Goggle Cloud directly to Google Drive?

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1

Hello, noob here.

I’m creating a CRM app in Glide and I can’t figure out how to this. When a user uploads a file (e.g. PDF, .pptx) it’s hosted on Google Cloud. That would be fine for PDF’s but other files it downloads automatically.

Is there any way to read and edit the file in a new tab or open it directly with Google Slides, for instance?

I’ve been reading about this problem but I figured I should get help from you guys.

Thanks a lot!

2

I don’t think it’s possible with the native file picker, which is what I assume you’re using?

What type of files do you have that is not PDF? Opening in Google Slides is not possible, unless you have an automation to upload that file to Google Drive and send the link back.

3

Actually, this method should work for MOST file types (as long as it’s a document-based file type)

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4

Does that method work well with IOS?

5

In the past, I recall this method leading to files not being viewable after a while if too many users access it in a short period, maybe it got past some sort of a threshold.

6

@Darren_Murphy Just tested—seems to work just fine.

@ThinhDinh No idea. I haven’t stress tested it.

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7

If I remember correctly, @Jeff_Hager introduced this wrapper, in the context of wrapping URLs from Google Drive. However, this does not work for Google Drive files themselves and is only effective for non-Google Drive files and also works on iOS.

8

That’s great but, like you said, with this solution, I can only view docs and not edit them.

The PFS is not an issue. The user only needs to upload the PDF that’s required by the client but the team itself creates and edits a bunch of Power Point slides with presentations to be shared by all the team members.

With this solution they can see - and that’s an improvement because it does not download the same file but they need to be able to edit them.

Thanks either way! I’ve learned something new! Love your videos btw! :slight_smile:

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9

Yes, I’m using FilePicker (column with multiple files). I remembered that Zappier could be helpful in this situation but I’m having troubles with them. Just keeps saying that no trigger is available. Anyway, besides PDF files the client works with Power Point for presentations to team members.

10

For pptx, as long as you convert it to Google Slides, you can edit it within the web embed component.

11

And that’s exactly my problem. How do I convert the file from google cloud (from file picker) to Google Slides.

12

If you want files to remain editable, I think you may need to have a shared google drive folder among your users. When they upload a file to the google drive, then they need to add the shared drive url into the app. They are going to need Drive access anyway to work with the
files, so they might as well upload directly to the drive folder instead of the glide storage.

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13

To save a G Drive file as described by Jeff, you cannot use Glide’s file picker. I did it using Google Apps Script.

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14

Do you have that documented or can you point me in the right direction?

15

Yes, that’s the idea in reality. Be able to upload a file from their HD directly to a shared Google Drive.

16

The easiest way is to use Google Forms to upload files. Google Forms can be embedded within Glide. If you’re familiar with Google Apps Script, you can create custom designs and embed them into Glide as well.

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17

If you want to go with this path, the flow would be something like this:

  • Create a webhook in Zapier/Make.
  • Use a trigger webhook action in Glide, every time a file is uploaded (as part of an on-submit action within a form), make sure you also pass over the rowID.
  • Upload that file to your Google Drive (I recall them having an option to auto-convert file types accordingly, but please check if that still is the case).
  • Return the file URL back to Glide using an API call (you got to have access to the API).
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