Two months ago, in Authorization of Google Drive using JavaScript,
@Nivco was writing about "Handling file content", a very tantalizing:

We could also improve the file content server so that it supports XHR requests.

So, where could "we" find news or roadmaps, information et coetera about this feature?

^{Actually, this question is a reply... (to another question)}

Two months ago, in Authorization of Google Drive using JavaScript,
@Nivco was writing about "Handling file content", a very tantalizing:

We could also improve the file content server so that it supports XHR requests.

So, where could "we" find news or roadmaps, information et coetera about this feature?

^{Actually, this question is a reply... (to another question)}

• javascript
• google-drive-api

2 Answers 2

Here is a short example using CORS.
The ID of the file is stored in variable <theID> ; this ID is unique and won't change as long as the file is not deleted (a trashed file is not deleted).

• First gapi.client.request retrieves the downloadUrl property ; the returned value is a short lived value ;
• Then, the callback: function sends an authenticated request in order to retrieve the contents of the file, thanks to its <downloadUrl> ;
• And the winner is… returned via onreadystatechange = function( theProgressEvent ).

.

gapi.client.request({
    'path': '/drive/v2/files/'+theID,
    'method': 'GET',
    callback: function ( theResponseJS, theResponseTXT ) {
        var myToken = gapi.auth.getToken();
        var myXHR   = new XMLHttpRequest();
        myXHR.open('GET', theResponseJS.downloadUrl, true );
        myXHR.setRequestHeader('Authorization', 'Bearer ' + myToken.access_token );
        myXHR.onreadystatechange = function( theProgressEvent ) {
            if (myXHR.readyState == 4) {
//          1=connection ok, 2=Request received, 3=running, 4=terminated
                if ( myXHR.status == 200 ) {
//              200=OK
                    console.log( myXHR.response );
                }
            }
        }
        myXHR.send();
    }
});

^{tested with "Chrome 20.0.1132.57 m" and "Firefox 14.0.1"}

The file download endpoint now supports CORS requests. I have updated the body of the answer to Authorization of Google Drive using JavaScript yesterday actually to make sure it reflects the latest state of the API. I just removed that trailing ment you are referring to :)