SharePoint API - ItemCount shows something but empty list of files and folders

Question

I'm accessing a SharePoint folder that contains two files and a subfolder. I'm getting back a correct ItemCount but no list of items. Using a made-up path of /sites/sitename/folder1/folder1, and hence the following URI:

https://myplace.sharepoint.com/sites/sitename/_api/web/GetFolderByServerRelativeUrl('/sites/sitename/folder1/folder2')?$expand=Files,Folders

The result comes out looking like:

{
  "d": {
    "__metadata": {
      "id": "https://myplace.sharepoint.com/sites/sitename/_api/Web/GetFolderByServerRelativePath(decodedurl='/sites/sitename/folder1/folder2')",
      "uri": "https://myplace.sharepoint.com/sites/sitename/_api/Web/GetFolderByServerRelativePath(decodedurl='/sites/sitename/folder1/folder2')",
      "type": "SP.Folder"
    },
    "Files": {
      "results": []
    },
    "ListItemAllFields": {
      "__deferred": {
        "uri": "https://myplace.sharepoint.com/sites/sitename/_api/Web/GetFolderByServerRelativePath(decodedurl='/sites/sitename/folder1/folder2')/ListItemAllFields"
      }
    },
    "ParentFolder": {
      "__deferred": {
        "uri": "https://myplace.sharepoint.com/sites/sitename/_api/Web/GetFolderByServerRelativePath(decodedurl='/sites/sitename/folder1/folder2')/ParentFolder"
      }
    },
    "Properties": {
      "__deferred": {
        "uri": https://myplace.sharepoint.com/sites/sitename/_api/Web/GetFolderByServerRelativePath(decodedurl='/sites/sitename/folder1/folder2')/Properties"
      }
    },
    "StorageMetrics": {
      "__deferred": {
        "uri": https://myplace.sharepoint.com/sites/sitename/_api/Web/GetFolderByServerRelativePath(decodedurl='/sites/sitename/folder1/folder2')/StorageMetrics"
      }
    },
    "Folders": {
      "results": []
    },
    "Exists": true,
    "IsWOPIEnabled": false,
    "ItemCount": 3,
    "Name": "folder2",
    "ProgID": null,
    "ServerRelativeUrl": "/sites/sitename/folder1/folder2",
    "TimeCreated": "2023-06-23T12:20:23Z",
    "TimeLastModified": "2023-06-27T11:06:16Z",
    "UniqueId": "12345678-1234-4321-8765-001234567890",
    "WelcomePage": ""
  }
}

I can see an ItemCount of 3 there, which seems to reflect my two files and a folder (and that number changes if I add/remove things in the web interface) but why am I getting an empty list of 'Folders' and 'Files'?

I thank you in advance for whatever thing it is that I'm missing!

Answer 1

Not sure if it is possible to get items from a list this way. The best way to query a list is to use the RenderListDataAsStream API. You need to specify the FolderServerRelativeUrl parameter to limit your query to a folder. You can either use the ViewXml parameter to specify a CAML query, starting with a <View> element. That is the most flexible option. There is also the simpler FilterValue1 etc. parameters that are user from the SharePoint list web interface.