File Sharing API for Python 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.

Request execution and return values

You can decide whether to perform the Python SDK operations synchronously or asynchronously.

• .sync() returns an Envelope object, which has two fields: Envelope.result, whose type differs for each API, and Envelope.status of type PnStatus.

  pubnub.publish() \
      .channel("myChannel") \
      .message("Hello from PubNub Python SDK") \
      .sync()

• .pn_async(callback) returns None and passes the values of Envelope.result and Envelope.status to a callback you must define beforehand.

  def my_callback_function(result, status):
      print(f'TT: {result.timetoken}, status: {status.category.name}')
  
  pubnub.publish() \
      .channel("myChannel") \
      .message("Hello from PubNub Python SDK") \
      .pn_async(my_callback_function)

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(String) \
    .file_name(String) \
    .message(Dictionary) \
    .should_store(Boolean) \
    .ttl(Integer) \
    .file_object(Python Object File or bytes) \
    .meta(Dictionary) \
    .custom_message_type(String)

* 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.
message Type: Dictionary Default: n/a	Message which should be sent along with file to specified channel.
should_store Type: Boolean Default: True	Whether PubNub published file message should be stored in channel history.
ttl Type: Integer Default: n/a	How long message should be stored in channel's storage.
file_object * Type: bytes or Python file object Default: n/a	Input stream with file content.
meta Type: Dictionary Default: n/a	Meta data object which can be used with the filtering ability.
custom_message_type Type: String Default: n/a	A case-sensitive, alphanumeric string from 3 to 50 characters describing the business-specific label or category of the message. Dashes - and underscores _ are allowed. The value cannot start with special characters or the string pn_ or pn-. Examples: text, action, poll.

Deprecated parameter

The cipher_key parameter in this method is deprecated. We recommend that you configure the crypto module on your PubNub instance instead.

If you pass cipher_key as an argument, it overrides the crypto module configuration and the legacy encryption with 128-bit cipher key entropy is used.

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.

Builder Pattern

import os
from pubnub.pnconfiguration import PNConfiguration
from pubnub.pubnub import PubNub
from pubnub.exceptions import PubNubException


def send_file(pubnub: PubNub, file_path: str, channel: str):
    try:
        with open(file_path, 'rb') as sample_file:
            response = pubnub.send_file() \
                .channel(channel) \
                .file_name("sample.gif") \
                .message({"test_message": "test"}) \
                .file_object(sample_file) \
                .sync()

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Named Arguments

import os
from pubnub.pnconfiguration import PNConfiguration
from pubnub.pubnub import PubNub
from pubnub.exceptions import PubNubException


def send_file(pubnub: PubNub, file_path: str, channel: str):
    try:
        with open(file_path, 'rb') as sample_file:
            response = pubnub.send_file(
                channel=channel,
                file_name="sample.gif",
                file_object=sample_file,
                message="Hey, it's gif not jif",
                custom_message_type="file-message"

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Returns

The send_file() operation returns an Envelope which contains the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
result	PNSendFileResult	A detailed object containing the result of the operation.
status	PNStatus	A status object with additional information.

PNSendFileResult

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.
limit Type: Int Default: n/a	The number of elements to return.
next Type: String Default: n/a	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.

Basic Usage

Builder Pattern

Named Arguments

file_list_response = pubnub.list_files(channel="ch1", limit=10, next="xyz...abc").sync()
print(f"Found {len(file_list_response.result.data)} files:")

for file_data in file_list_response.result.data:
    print(f"  {file_data['name']} with id: {file_data['id']}")

Returns

The list_files() operation returns an Envelope which contains the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
result	PNGetFilesResult	A detailed object containing the result of the operation.
status	PNStatus	A status object with additional information.

PNGetFilesResult

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.
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

Builder Pattern

Named Arguments

download_url = pubnub.get_file_url(channel="ch1",
                                   file_id=file_data['id'],
                                   file_data['name']) \
    .sync()

print(f'  Download url: {download_url.result.file_url}')

Returns

The get_file_url() operation returns an Envelope which contains the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
result	PNGetFileDownloadURLResult	A detailed object containing the result of the operation.
status	PNStatus	A status object with additional information.

PNGetFileDownloadURLResult

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.

Deprecated parameter

The cipher_key parameter in this method is deprecated. We recommend that you configure the crypto module on your PubNub instance instead.

If you pass cipher_key as an argument, it overrides the crypto module configuration and the legacy encryption with 128-bit cipher key entropy is used.

Basic Usage

Builder Pattern

Named Arguments

download_url = pubnub.download_file(channel="ch1",
                                    file_id=file_data['id'],
                                    file_data['name']) \
    .sync()

fw = open(f"{os.getcwd()}/{file_data['name']}", 'wb')
fw.write(download_file.result.data)

print(f"File saved as {os.getcwd()}/{file_data['name']}")

Returns

The download_file() operation returns an Envelope which contains the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
result	PNDownloadFileResult	A detailed object containing the result of the operation.
status	PNStatus	A status object with additional information.

PNDownloadFileResult

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

Builder Pattern

Named Arguments

pubnub.delete_file(channel="ch1",
                   file_id=file_data['id'],
                   file_data['name']) \
    .sync()

print(f"File deleted")

Returns

The download_file() operation returns an Envelope which contains the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
result	PNDeleteFileResult	A detailed object containing the result of the operation.
status	PNStatus	A status object with additional information.

PNDeleteFileResult

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) \
    .custom_message_type(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.
meta Type: Dictionary Default: n/a	Meta data object which can be used with the filtering ability.
message Type: Dictionary Default: n/a	The payload.
file_id * Type: String Default: n/a	Unique identifier of the file.
custom_message_type Type: String Default: n/a	A case-sensitive, alphanumeric string from 3 to 50 characters describing the business-specific label or category of the message. Dashes - and underscores _ are allowed. The value cannot start with special characters or the string pn_ or pn-. Examples: text, action, poll.
file_name * Type: String Default: n/a	Name of the file.
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: Int 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

Builder Pattern

# synchronous:
envelope = pubnub.publish_file_message() \
    .channel("test_channel") \
    .meta({"test": "test"}) \
    .message({"test_message": "test"}) \
    .custom_message_type("file-message") \
    .file_id("fileID") \
    .file_name("knights_of_ni.jpg") \
    .ttl(22) \
    .sync()

# multithreaded asynchronous:
def callback(response, status):
    pass

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Named Arguments

envelope = pubnub.publish_file_message(channel="test_channel",
                                       message="Bring me a shrubbery",
                                       file_id="fileID",
                                       file_name="knights_of_ni.jpg",
                                       custom_message_type="file-message",
                                       meta={"nice": True, "expensive": False},
                                       ttl=22) \
    .sync()

Returns

The publish_file_message() operation returns an Envelope which contains the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
result	PNPublishFileMessageResult	A detailed object containing the result of the operation.
status	PNStatus	A status object with additional information.

PNPublishFileMessageResult

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.