How do I Trigger on Multiple File Uploads in Google Drive

Question

Hi everyone,

I want to handle those 2 use cases :
1/ whenever 1 new file is uploaded in my /folder1/, start a sequence of actions

2/ whenever 3 new files are uploaded in another /folder2/, start another sequence of actions

Case1 is super easy with the “New File in Folder in Google Drive” trigger, it works all fine between my different systems.

I am stuck with case 2 which has SEVERAL files. For that case, I need to start the sequence of actions only after the 3 files have been fully uploaded to the /folder2. Is there a way to give such a signal ? I was thinking introducing a “Delay/Wait” of a few minutes, which in theory would give enough time to get all 3 files fully uploaded. But not a guarantee.

Also I am not sure how to get multiple files at the same time (this is probably another point, first I have to solve the triggering only when all 3 files are ready !)

I would appreciate if someone would give me a few hints where to look for a solution :-)

Have a great day.

SamB · Answer

Hi @Johannes267, welcome to the Community! 👋

Hmm, that’s a tricky one. I wonder if you could create a record of the uploaded files in an app like Trello for example. 🤔

You could create a new Card for each set of files that relates to a specific client for example. When a new file is uploaded that contains the name of that client you could use the Add Attachment to Card (Trello) action to add it to the card. Then have another Zap that uses the Card Updated (Trello) trigger, followed by a Filter by Zapier action to check that the number of attachments present is 3 - see: Add conditions to Zaps with filters

Thinking that way the Zap will only continue to run once the last file has been added to the card and then allow you to carry out any necessary actions from there.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be Trello, you could potentially add a record into a spreadsheet or database or some kind instead and just have the filter check that all three files had been added.

Do you think that sort of approach could work?

How do I Trigger on Multiple File Uploads in Google Drive

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