Data Browser

General

The Data Browser is the main way within the RDMS web interface that you can use to navigate through your files and folders. In this window you can also execute different tasks related to the management of your files. It is also the starting window that is presented to you when you log into the web interface, but it can be accessed at any time by hitting the button on the left-sided Menu panel.

When within the Data Browser, you can use the / buttons in the Menu sidebar to hide or reveal the directory browser (green box in the screenshot above). Inside the directory browser, you can access different parts of the system, by clicking on the respective icon. A brief explanation of the items in the directory browser follows below:

Starred (): Starred files and folders are a collections of files and folders that you highlighted in the RDMS. Hovering on or clicking a file or folder in the Data Browser will reveal an empty star icon besides the file or folder name. If you click on the star icon, you will mark the file and the star will fill. You will then be able to see the file listed in this part of the Data Browser. Unmarking a file will remove it from this list. This is an easy way of keeping all your most used files and folders in a single location.
Projects (): This part of the Data Browser collects all the RDMS Projects that you are part of. Please refer to the Projects section of the wiki to get more information about Projects in the RDMS.
Team drives (): This part of the Data Browser collects all the RDMS Team Drives that you are part of. Please refer to the Team Drive section of the wiki to get more information about Team Drives in the RDMS.
Shared (): This part of the Data Browser shows an overview of all the RDMS locations that other users shared with you. You can use this overview to navigate easily and fast to a shared location.
Bin (): This part of the Data Browser contains all the files and folders that you deleted. The web interface currently only allows you to restore data from the Bin (see the How to restore deleted files section at the bottom of this page). Information on how to permanently delete files can also be found there.
My folder (): This is your personal home location in the RDMS.

Data Browser Functions

As mentioned above, you can execute different file management tasks directly from the Data Browser. For example, you can use the button on the top-right corner to reveal a menu that allows you to create new folders, upload files, move data, or link folders:

You can also right-click on a file or folder in your Data Browser to reveal a context menu that allows you to execute more tasks (e.g. assigning permissions on the selected object):

Preview Data

The context menu in the data browser also allows you to preview the content of certain files. So far, the RDMS supports the preview of the following file formats:

Type	File Extensions	Notes
Image File	`.apng`, `.bmp`, `.gif`, `.jpg`, `.jpeg`, `.png`, `*.svg`	Displays preview of the image.
Documents	`*.pdf`	Opens PDF in Browser. Printing/Download possible from there.
Text-based	`.csv`, `.html`, `.json`, `.txt`, `*.xml`	Displays content of text file. Content can be copied from here as well.
Other	`*.tar`	Displays the content of the tar bundle.

To preview the content of a file (here a tar archive), right-click the file and open the context menu. Then select, the Open In… option from the context menu. The function will present you with different options to open the respective file. Here you can choose to preview the file either on the right side of the current data browser window, or to use a new browser tab to preview the selected file.

In this example case, we select a tar archive for preview. You can see in the screenshot below that the content of the tar archive is shown on the right side of the data browser.

Notes:

The preview function is limited to files with a maximum size of 500 MB.
In the future, we will add more data formats that can be previewed. If you need a certain preview function, please contact rdms-support@rug.nl with your request.

Using Hotkeys

Within the Data Browser different hotkeys are implemented which you can use to execute common data operations in a convenient way. The hotkeys in the Data browser are designed to be as close as possible to hotkeys used on other operating systems. As such, the basic hotkey combinations shift + up, shift + down, and shift + click are available to select multiple files or folders. The ctrl + click combination also works like expected from your operating system.

Additional hotkey functions that are currently implemented can be accessed by typing the strings below on your keyboard while in the Data browser:

dbn: Create a new collection (folder)
dbu: Upload a new data object (file)
dbm: Move the selected objects or collections
dbl: Link a collection
ctrl + h: Display the help window

Notes:

The listed hotkeys are only available in the Data browser, with the exception of the ctrl + h hotkey combination, which is available in the entire web interface.
For Mac users, the ctrl key is replaced by the command key. The hotkeys then function in the same way as described above.

How to Restore Deleted Files

Files in your bin can be restored via the web interface. Click below to reveal the guide showing you how to do so. If you would like to use iCommands to restore files, please navigate to the corresponding command in the How to manage files in the RDMS trash folder section of the wiki.

Note: Please keep in mind that if you wish to permanently delete files stored in your bin, the only way to do so is by using the Command Line Interface (CLI). Look to the section explaining how to use irmtrash on the iCommands page.

Restoring Files via the Web Interface

Here, we explain how to restore files using the web interface. First, navigate to the Bin folder in the data browser (see screenshot below). Files that have been deleted from your Home Drive will appear in the Bin. Files deleted from folders within your Home Drive, or from your Team Drive or Projects, will generate a folder in the Bin corresponding to their original location (see the screenshot).

Next, navigate to the file(s) you want to restore. Once selected, click the restore icon at the top part of the Data Browser, as seen in the screenshot below.

The RDMS will open a new window and ask you for additional information. The first window asks you to specify where you want the deleted file to be sent, after it is restored. You normally would want the file to be restored in its original location, but should you wish to have it restored in a different folder, this window is where you want to specify where.

Once you have chosen a destination, whether it is the original one or a new destination, you can scroll down to press the Next > button to move on to the next window.

The RDMS will then display a summary of the file(s) to be restored and where they are being restored to. Please check that the information is correct before proceeding. If all information is correct, scroll down to select the last option before restoring the file.

Here, the RDMS provides you the option to Keep the current permissions or also add permission of a new location. If you are restoring the file to its original location, you can simply choose to keep the current permissions. If you wish to restore the file in a new location, it is probably best to add the permissions of the new location as well. In this case, permissions refer to who can access the file in the location it will be restored in. Should you choose to move the file to a new location and not add the permissions of said new location, then be aware that some users may not be able to see or access the file. Click Ok once you are done and wish to proceed.

Finally, if you choose to proceed, the RDMS will will ask for confirmation before restoring the file. If you choose Yes, then the file will be moved out of the bin and into the destination folder you specified.

You can now go back to the data browser and find the restored file there.