File Sharing API for Python-Asyncio SDK

Allows users to upload and share files. You can upload any file of up to 5 MB in size. This feature is commonly used in social apps to share images, or in medical apps to share medical records for patients.

When a file is uploaded on a channel, it's stored and managed using a storage service, and associated with your key. Subscribers to that channel receive a file event which contains a file ID, filename, and optional description.

Send file

Upload the file to a specified channel.

This method covers the entire process of sending a file, including preparation, uploading the file to a cloud storage service, and post-uploading messaging on a channel.

For the last messaging step, send_file internally calls the publish_file_message method to publish a message on the channel.

The published message contains metadata about the file, such as the file identifier and name, enabling others on the channel to find out about the file and access it.

Method(s)

pubnub.send_file()
    .channel(channel) \
    .file_name(file_name) \
    .message(message) \
    .should_store(should_store) \
    .ttl(ttl) \
    .file_object(file_object) \
    .cipher_key(cipher_key) \
    .future()

* required

Parameter	Description
channel * Type: String Default: n/a	Channel for the file.
file_name * Type: String Default: n/a	Name of the file to send.
file_object * Type: bytes or Python file object Default: n/a	Input stream with file content.
cipherKey Type: String Default: PNConfiguration#cipherKey	Key to be used to encrypt uploaded data. If not provided, cipherKey in PNConfiguration will be used, if provided.
ttl Type: Integer Default: n/a	How long message should be stored in channel's storage.
should_store Type: Boolean Default: True	Whether PubNub published file message should be stored in channel history.
message Type: Dictionary Default: n/a	Message which should be sent along with file to specified channel.
meta Type: Dictionary Default: n/a	Meta data object which can be used with the filtering ability.

Basic Usage

Reference code

This example is a self-contained code snippet ready to be run. It includes necessary imports and executes methods with console logging. Use it as a reference when working with other examples in this document.

import asyncio
import os
from pubnub.pnconfiguration import PNConfiguration
from pubnub.pubnub_asyncio import PubNubAsyncio
from pubnub.exceptions import PubNubException


async def send_file(pubnub: PubNubAsyncio):
    try:
        with open("knights_of_ni.jpg", "rb") as fd:
            # Send a file with additional options
            envelope = await pubnub.send_file() \
                .channel("test_channel") \
                .file_name("knights_of_ni.jpg") \
                .message({"test_message": "test"}) \

show all 49 lines

Returns

The send_file() operation returns a PNSendFileResult which contains the following properties:

Property Name	Type	Description
name	String	Name of the uploaded file.
file_id	String	ID of the uploaded file.
timestamp	String	The timetoken at which the message was published.

List channel files

Retrieve list of files uploaded to Channel.

Method(s)

pubnub.list_files().channel(String)

* required

Parameter	Description
channel * Type: String Default: n/a	Channel to get the list of files.

Basic Usage

envelope = await pubnub.list_files().channel("test_channel").future()

Returns

The list_file() operation returns a PNGetFilesResult which contains the following properties:

Property Name	Type	Description
next	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.
prev	String	Random string returned from the server, indicating a specific position in a data set. Used for backward pagination, it fetches the previous page, enabling access to earlier data. Ignored if the next parameter is supplied.
count	Int	Number of files returned.
data	List	List of channel files.

data contains the following properties:

Property Name	Type	Description
id	Long	Id of the uploaded file.
name	String	Name of the upload file.
size	String	Size of the uploaded file.
created	String	Time of creation.

Get File Url

Generate URL which can be used to download file from target Channel.

Method(s)

pubnub.get_file_url() \
    .channel(String) \
    .file_id(String) \
    .file_name(String)

* required

Parameter	Description
channel * Type: String	Name of channel to which the file has been uploaded.
file_name * Type: String	Name under which the uploaded file is stored.
file_id * Type: String	Unique identifier for the file, assigned during upload.

Basic Usage

envelope = await pubnub.get_file_url().\
    channel("test_channel").\
    file_id("d9515cb7-48a7-41a4-9284-f4bf331bc770").\
    file_name("knights_of_ni.jpg").future()

Returns

The get_file_url() operation returns a PNGetFileDownloadURLResult which contains the following properties:

Property Name	Type	Description
file_url	String	URL to be used to download the requested file.

Download file

Download file from specified Channel.

Method(s)

pubnub.download_file() \
    .channel(String) \
    .file_id(String) \
    .file_name(String)

* required

Parameter	Description
channel * Type: String	Name of channel to which the file has been uploaded.
file_name * Type: String	Name under which the uploaded file is stored.
file_id * Type: String	Unique identifier for the file, assigned during upload.
cipher_key Type: String	Key to be used to decrypt downloaded data. If a key is not provided, the SDK uses the cipher_key from the PNConfiguration.

Basic Usage

download_envelope = await pubnub.download_file().\
    channel("test_channel").\
    file_id("fileId").\
    file_name("knights_of_ni.jpg").future()

Returns

The download_file() operation returns a PNDownloadFileResult which contains the following properties:

Property Name	Type	Description
data	bytes	Python bytes object.

Delete file

Delete file from specified Channel.

Method(s)

pubnub.delete_file() \
    .channel(String) \
    .file_id(String) \
    .file_name(String)

* required

Parameter	Description
channel * Type: String	The channel from which to delete the file.
file_id * Type: String	Unique identifier of the file to be deleted.
file_name * Type: String	Name of the file to be deleted.

Basic Usage

envelope = await pubnub.delete_file().\
    channel("test_channel").\
    file_id("fileId").\
    file_name("knights_of_ni.jpg").future()

Returns

The delete_file() operation returns a PNDeleteFileResult which contains the following property:

Property Name	Type	Description
status	Int	Returns a status code.

Publish file message

Publish the uploaded file message to a specified channel.

This method is called internally by send_file as part of the file-sending process to publish the message with the file (already uploaded in a storage service) on a channel.

This message includes the file's unique identifier and name elements, which are needed to construct download links and inform channel subscribers that the file is available for download.

You can call this method when send_file fails and returns the status.operation === PNPublishFileMessageOperation error. In that case, you can use the data from the status object to try again and use publish_file_message to manually resend a file message to a channel without repeating the upload step.

Method(s)

pubnub.publish_file_message() \
    .channel(String) \
    .meta(Dictionary) \
    .message(Dictionary) \
    .file_id(String) \
    .file_name(String) \
    .should_store(Boolean) \
    .ttl(Integer)

* required

Parameter	Description
channel * Type: String Default: n/a	Name of channel to publish file message.
file_name * Type: String Default: n/a	Name of the file.
file_id * Type: String Default: n/a	Unique identifier of the file.
message Type: Dictionary Default: n/a	The payload.
meta Type: Dictionary Default: n/a	Meta data object which can be used with the filtering ability.
should_store Type: Boolean Default: True	Set to False to not store this message in history. By default, messages are stored according to the retention policy you set on your key.
ttl Type: Integer Default: 0	How long the message should be stored in the channel's history. If not specified, defaults to the key set's retention value.

Basic Usage

envelope = await pubnub.publish_file_message().\
    channel("test_channel").\
    meta({"test": "test"}).\
    message({"test_message": "test"}).\
    file_id("fileID").\
    file_name("knights_of_ni.jpg").\
    ttl(22).future()

Returns

The publish_file_message() operation returns a PNPublishFileMessageResult which contains the following property:

Property Name	Type	Description
timestamp	String	The timetoken at which the message was published.