Ignore node_modules/bower_components folders in your Dropbox

DropboxIgnore.md

This script scans your Dropbox (or any given folder) for folders stored in the ignore array and excludes them from syncing. Makes use of the official Dropbox CLI

I'm a beginner at bash, so all improvements are welcome!

#!/bin/bash

set -e

# SETTINGS
# ========
# Location of your Dropbox folder
dropbox_folder="/Users/YOUR_NAME/Dropbox"
# Location of dropbox.py (http://www.dropboxwiki.com/tips-and-tricks/using-the-official-dropbox-command-line-interface-cli)
dropbox_script="~/bin/dropbox.py"
# Array of folders to ignore
ignore_list=['bower_components','node_modules','vendor']

# FUNCTIONS
# =========
function dropbox_install(){
    while true; do
        read -p $'\nDo you want to use download and install dropbox.py? (y/n) ' yn
        case $yn in
            [Yy]* )
                dropbox_script_parent=$(dirname $dropbox_script)
                mkdir -p $dropbox_script_parent
                wget -O $dropbox_script "https://www.dropbox.com/download?dl=packages/dropbox.py"
                chmod +x $dropbox_script
                recurse $dropbox
                break;;
            [Nn]* )
                echo 'Aborted. See http://www.dropboxwiki.com/tips-and-tricks/using-the-official-dropbox-command-line-interface-cli#Installation for manual instructions.';
                exit 1;;
        esac
    done
}

function recurse() {
 for i in "$1"/*;do
    if [ -d "$i" ];then
        j=$(basename "$i")
        if [[ " ${ignore_list[*]} " == *$j* ]]; then
            $dropbox_script exclude "$i"
        fi
        recurse "$i"
    fi
 done
}

# SCRIPT
# ======
# Check Dropbox folder location
if [ -d "$dropbox_folder" ];then
    echo "Dropbox found at $dropbox_folder"
else
    echo "Dropbox not found"
    exit 1
fi

# Check for dropbox.py
if [ -e "$dropbox_script" ];then
    recurse $dropbox
else
    dropbox_install
fi

What's the current state of affairs here? Is the one-liner a solution? If so, how? And is this linux-only? I've heard so but I bet it works on OSX too, also unix based.

Otherwise, is there a script that does work?

Or is DBox just not useful in certain use cases? For me, its mainly my src files which include node_modules. I'd prefer to not have dropbox sync node_modules.

add "add" to the recursive function to work

function recurse() { for i in "$1"/*;do if [ -d "$i" ];then j=$(basename "$i") if [[ " ${ignore_list[*]} " == *$j* ]]; then $dropbox_script exclude add "$i" fi recurse "$i" fi done }

this is also possible using rsync. it's rather robust. i wrote a guide here: https://arshaw.com/exclude-node-modules-dropbox-google-drive

this is also possible using rsync. it's rather robust. i wrote a guide here: https://arshaw.com/exclude-node-modules-dropbox-google-drive

@arshaw The thing is, when using rsync you can't have 2 ways sync, so I don't see a point here. Why do I want to constantly sync my folder to Dropbox if then changes in Dropbox not reflected back to project folder. Of course you can manually do it but then its not convient, might just use git it that case.

It's 2022, and I'm now using Maestral (@samschott/maestral)