Configuring the Data Source Path for a Google Workspace Drive Collector
Google Workspace Drive allows duplicate names at all levels of its hierarchy; therefore, to ensure we can distinguish these duplicate names, we use the GWD identifiers.
When creating a new Data Source for the GWD Collector, the path comprises three components Host, Drive Specifier, and Unique ID, and uses the following format:
<Host>/<Drive Specifier>/<Unique ID>/optional:<Subfolder Unique ID>
| Path Component | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Host | A mechanism for the service to group Data Sources |
GoogleDrive MyMainTenant |
| Drive Specifier | Informs the collector as to whether the target is a Shared Drive or a Personal Drive |
Shared Personal |
| Unique ID | The unique identifier assigned by Google Drive to the target drive |
0ANPyzi9pu7toUk9PVH sallysmith@mycompany.com |
| Subfolder Unique ID | The unique identifier assigned by Google Drive to the target subfolder |
1ii1Euotfst7CfVYxkUJjeoU3g |
Example Paths
| Drive | Example Path |
|---|---|
| Sally Smith's Personal Drive | GoogleDrive/personal/sallysmith@mycompany.com |
| A Shared Drive | GoogleDrive/shared/0ANPyzi9pu7toUk9PVH |
The Data Source could have further segments added; these would be the id of the subfolders to the level where you wish to have the data source start.
The Data Source examples below will start at a subfolder of the shared/personal drive with the id 1ii1Euotfst7CfVYxk.
| Shared Drive Subfolder | GoogleDrive/shared/0ANPyzi9pu7toUk9PVH/1ii1Euotfst7CfVYxk |
|---|---|
| Personal Drive Subfolder | GoogleDrive/personal/ sallysmith@mycompany.com/1ii1Euotfst7CfVYxk |
NOTE: Data Sources cannot be started at a point higher than a drive. e.g., GoogleDrive/shared will be invalid.
Google Workspace / Drive Limitations
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Native Google Workspace files (for example, Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, etc.) are metadata-based and therefore report a file size of 0 bytes. This behaviour is consistent with what is shown in the Google Drive user interface and via the Google Drive API.
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Not all Google Workspace file types support export. Files that do not expose an export format cannot be exported and are therefore excluded from content-based feature extraction.
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Google Maps and Google Forms do not currently provide a usable export format via the Google Drive API. As a result, these file types are not eligible for feature extraction.
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“Computers” locations (created by Google Drive for Desktop) may appear in a user’s Drive. These locations are not represented as a first-class entity in the Google Drive API, and there is no supported API mechanism to reliably discover or enumerate them.