git-dropshare

git-dropshare use Dropbox to store, and track binary files. Using the sharing fonctionality of Dropbox, it is then possible to use any Git service you like for collaborative development, while taking advantage of a free Dropbox account to store big files, LFS likewise.

Requirements

• A recent Python distribution (developed with 3.6)
• A Dropbox account

Installation procedure

1. Install dropshare from GitHub (pip3 installation to come).
2. Go to Dropbox developpers interface, and get a token for the full Dropbox.
3. Choose a folder inside Dropbox, which is going to serve for storage.
4. Within any Git valid repository, run git ds init and answer few questions:
   • a account label for representing your Storage area inside your Dropbox;
   • a short description for the storage area;
   • the relative path for this storage, within your Dropbox;
   • and the global token got at step 1.

The Dropshare installation can be ckecked with command: git ds check.

Decide which files patterns (follow fnmatch(3) manual for details) should be handled by Dropshare. For each pattern, run git ds track <pattern>. The local file .gitattributes will be edited accordingly.

For example:

git ds track '*.pdf'

adds the line *.pdf filter=dropshare to .gitattributes, if not already present.

N.B. In case this is a team development, everybody must agree on the content of the file .gitattributes!

N.B. If sharing is considered, be warned this is incompatible with Dropbox Applications model.

Typical use

When checking files:

git add file.pdf
git commit file.pdf "my first binary file"
git push
git ds push

To checkout repository:

git pull
git ds pull

Notice, there is NO requirement, as far as Git is concerned, to pull files outside the Storage area. If git ds pull is not trggered, every filtered files will be seen as a stub which content is:

dropshare
file path # merely for information purpose
hexdigest # hash content, using Dropbox algorithm