Send files

Attach files to messages to share information or improve collaboration.

Chat SDK supports multiple file attachments per message. Each file must be 5 MB or less. Files upload sequentially, so consider implementing a progress indicator for better UX.

Requires File Sharing

Enable File Sharing in the Admin Portal and configure storage region and retention. Align file retention with Message Persistence retention.

Send files

You can attach files to a draft message and publish it using the Send() method, or send files directly using the SendText() method.

Method signature

To add files, you must add elements to the Files property (List<ChatInputFile>) of a MessageDraft object.

Alternatively, you can pass files directly to the SendText() method using the SendTextParams.Files property.

ChatInputFile is a struct with the following properties:

Property	Description
Name Type: string	Name of the file, like document.pdf.
Type Type: string	MIME type of the file, like application/pdf.
Source Type: string	Path to the file on the local filesystem.

Sample code

Attach a file to a text message using SendText().

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Attach a file to a draft message using MessageDraft.Files.

1

Get all message files

You can access the Files property of the Message object to list all files attached to a single message.

Property signature

This property has the following signature:

1message.Files

Property	Description
Files Type: List<ChatFile>	List of files attached to the message.

ChatFile contains the following properties:

Property	Description
Name Type: string	Name of the file, like error-1.jpg.
Id Type: string	Unique identifier assigned to the file by PubNub, like 736499374.
Url Type: string	File's direct downloadable URL, like https://ps.pndsn.com/v1/files/demo/channels/support/files/736499374/error-1.jpg.
Type Type: string	MIME type of the file, like image/jpeg.

Sample code

List all files attached to a message.

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Get all channel files

GetFiles() returns all files attached to messages on a given channel.

Method signature

This method takes the following parameters:

1channel.GetFiles(
2    int limit = 0,
3    string next = ""
4)

Input

* required

Parameter	Description
limit Type: int Default: 0	Number of files to return. When set to 0, uses the default server value.
next Type: string Default: ""	String token to get the next batch of files.

Output

Type	Description
Task<ChatOperationResult<ChatFilesResult>>	Returned object containing these fields: Files, Next, and Total.

ChatFilesResult contains the following properties:

Property	Description
Files Type: List<ChatFile>	List containing file details.
Next Type: string	Random string returned from the server, indicating a specific position in a data set. Used for forward pagination, it fetches the next page, allowing you to continue from where you left off.
Total Type: int	Total number of files.

ChatFile contains the following properties:

Property	Description
Name Type: string	Name of the file, like error-1.jpg.
Id Type: string	Unique identifier assigned to the file by PubNub, like 736499374.
Url Type: string	File's direct downloadable URL, like https://ps.pndsn.com/v1/files/demo/channels/support/files/736499374/error-1.jpg.
Type Type: string	MIME type of the file, like image/jpeg.

Sample code

List all files published on a channel.

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Delete files

Delete sent files or files from published messages with the DeleteFile() method.

Deletion consequences

Once you delete the file, you can't track which historical messages contained the deleted file to remove info about the file from those messages.

Method signature

This method takes the following parameters:

1channel.DeleteFile(
2    string id,
3    string name
4)

Input

* required

Parameter	Description
id * Type: string Default: n/a	Unique identifier assigned to the file by PubNub.
name * Type: string Default: n/a	Name of the file.

Output

Type	Description
Task<ChatOperationResult>	Operation result indicating the success or failure of the deletion.

Sample code

Remove a file from a channel.

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