The new RadFileExplorer is a wonderful new addition to the Telerik lineup, and once the few remaining minor bugs are worked out it will really be a great control.  For a majority of scenarios where all you need to do is list raw directories and files, and pick one, it works great.  Both as a stand-alone as well as a part of one of the Editor's dialogs.  Part of the beauty of the control is its simplicity.  However, there are no doubt some more complicated situations where the built-in functionality falls short.

Hi,

FileExplorer is almost looking and a "real File Explorer". And it is really useful in CMS or similar scenarios.

There are three points missing from my point of view.
Server side events.
--Of course something can be done with a RadAjaxManager function.
--But it would be more intuitive to handle events directly on the server.
--Preferred - "Before" and "After" events.
--Example OnFileMoving - OnFileMoved - and the first event has a Cancel in it's parameters.
--So I could disallow that a user drags an image to a document folder.
--"Full featured" event parameters would be a good idea
---"FileMoveEventArgs" has for an example "SourceDir" "DestinationDir" and so on.
--The reason why I'm asking for this is that on the server is that
-----a.) it is easier (for me as a .NET developer) to do things
-----b.) I have the full .NET power
-----c.) I have access to a lot of resources (check attributes of files / check user roles and so on)


Extending the context menu.
--Example: Imagine I have a "backup directory".
--When the user is in this directory I want to add a "Restore File" item to the menu

Full featured drag operations
--Currently I can move a file by dragging.
--In explorer I can either copy or move a file.
--This is done in two ways - Keyboard override / location dependant.
--If I drag from one drive to another it makes a copy
----This could be (since there is no drive) done via some rules (CopyOnDrag="True" or so) or at "different root nodes"
--MOST IMPORTANT - Keyboard override
------ If I hold CTRL in Explorer a file get's copied
------If I hold SHIFT a file get's moved

Regards

Manfred

I agree with this, I have used the FileExplorer a lot recently for part of a CMS system whereby support users can create adverts - part of which is selecting an image, I have managed to implement it by keeping things fairly simple, sticking to read only and using other methods/UI for the admin of the files. The main limitation is certainly the lack of server side interaction. It would be nice to be able to loop through the items on load / "data bind" and 'do something' - such as hide folders with certain names etc without having to rely on few declarative settings and javascript. It would not need all of the server side features of a control like radgrid, but a few key ones would be useful.

Being able to do things like preselect something from serverside, access selected value from server side - without having to use a hidden field or textbox would be good for a start.

It is generally very good though, there is a lot of potential there.

Sounds good Tervel.  Getting one step closer to RadDoAllMyWorkForMe!

For us the one feature that tops our wishlist is the possibility of selecting a group of files and doing something with them as a group -- delete, move, add to database using a custom function, etc.

Right now, we simply open a new window with a rad grid that includes checkboxes.

Hello Chanan,

Just a quick note - you can select multiple entries in the grid by holding down Ctrl key and pressing on each entry.
Then you can execute a command such as Move or Delete for all selected items.
Certainly, we will be extending this behavior with better mouse support to resemble more Windows Explorer.


Best wishes,
Tervel
the Telerik team

Should've read the manual.
Thanks.
It would have saved me work: we added a ListBox where selected items were listed:

function OnClientItemSelected(sender, args) {

    LogEvent(args.get_item().get_path());
}

function LogEvent(text) {
    if (text != null) {
        imagestring=text;
        var opt=new Option(imagestring, imagestring);
        var selectList = $get("ListBox1");
        selectList.options[selectList.length] = opt;
        selectList.selectedIndex = selectList.length - 1; 
    }
}

function removeFromSelectList() {
    var selectList = $get("ListBox1");
    if (selectList.selectedIndex != -1) {
        selectList.options[selectList.selectedIndex] = null;
    }
}

Using the CTRL key is far more elegant, of course.

 

 

 

 

this appears to be a bit of a wishlist thread, here's mine:

• properties for filesize display
  • enforce set size multiple bytes/Kb/Mb
  • allow auto size adjustment per file so that fiel list can contain files with sizes in bytes, Kb and Mb)
• file size display text justification (currantly it's left justified and for numbers that's so very wrong)
• object rollover tooltip support.

Another extension (from a current project need) would be to have different modes.
What I mean is:
a.) A "tree only" or "directories only" mode where only the treeview is visible
b.) A "content only" view - where the treeview is hidden (directory navigation only with (if shown) directory up)

Here a.) is most important.
I could imagine this as something like .TreeVisible / .DetailPaneVisible.

In addition (easier handling) an other idea is "only files in details" - so directories are only displayed in the tree
while in the details pane only files are visible.
This would enforce the user to use the treeview for directory navigation.
And save (on the developer side) some logic when checking what has been clicked in details pane (couldn't be a directory).

Regards

Manfred

Hi Manfred,

I think you can do the first part of what you're after already by setting the VisibleControls property.

Shaun.

You are right Shaun - I know how I came to this idea.
I gave the VisibleControls a try - but than I had problems with a missing event (OnClientFolderLoaded) which enables me to make an Ajax request.
So I said to myself - I can't use this because I don't get the needed event.
And (logically) following ==> "the feature is missing" settled in my brain :)

To be more precise about the "missing event" - there is a "OnClientFolderChange" - but if you fire an Ajax Request while FileExplorer has to load something you'll get a "waiting indicator" that never disappears.
So handling this event is (currently) a bit "luck depended" -- if it is a single folder (with no subfolders) it works.
If the Explorer needs to load subdirs - bad luck :)

Thanks

Manfred

Hi Manfred,

The OnClientFolderChange client event should fire if you only have a treeview visible. If it doesn't - we have a bug :)

I tested with the following code:


It worked as expected.

If you get a waiting indicator that never disappears, this probably means that there was a server error during the AJAX request we made to update the FileExplorer. You can check the application event log on the machine and see the exception details or use a HTTP debugging proxy (Fiddler for IE, Firebug's Net view for Firefox) and see the exception details.

Best wishes,
Lini
the Telerik team

To clarify this:

I need server functionality.
To achieve this I call an Ajax function.
This works well - as long as FileExplorer is not also firing an Ajax request.

So to inform the server about a changed directory I use this approach:
If i do this in OnClientFolderChange I get the "ever lasting load animation".
To be precise - I get this when the selected folder has subfolders and FileExplorer fires an Ajax call to read the subdirectories.

OnFolderLoaded fires AFTER FileExplorer did his Ajax - so it works always in this handler.
BUT - OnFolderLoaded does not fire when a directory is selected in the tree and the details pane is invisible.
Of course it doesn't - there is no folder to load.

Since we are a bit OT - back to the wishes:
It would be great to get "after events" - so for that OnClientFolderChange I see two solutions:
a.) an extra event OnClientFolderChangeCompleted
b.) fire the event AFTER the load of the subdirectories (when needed) took place.

Regards

Manfred

Some additional suggestions for functionality/features

1) An additional column for "Modified Date" and "FiIe Type".

2) An additional ClientSelectColumn (checkboxes)

3) All columns should be hideable through a property.

4) I haven't tried this on a Mac, but what do people do as far as context menus are concerned?

5) The ability to create cusom context-menu commands for folders and items.

6) i think the folder list could be implemented in a sliding pane so that it can be closed (yet the tab will still be visible) or opened/pinned. This isn't amust have, or anything, but I think it might mimic Windows Explorer a little closer. Alternatively, there could be a toggle button at the top which will hide/show the folder list.

7) Ideally, the control should contain various "Template" sections, such as the Rad Grid's Command Template. This would make the top command area much easier to customize and would allow for the gratest flexibility. In fact, adding template sections in other areas would be very useful as well. For instance, there could be a "Footer" Template. By default this might show some statistics about the currently selected folder, but a user could obviously put whatever they wanted here.

8) I believe it has been mentioned, but the control needs server-side accesibility to events (particularly binding events) in order to customize individual items. For example, In many scenarios it would be necessary to provided different permissions on different folders or files

9) Ideally, it shouldn't be necessary to pop up a dialog to add a new folder. The tree node should just be added and go into Edit Mode (with the default foldername). The default folder name should be unique within the parent node, so if the template is "New Folder", the default new folder name will be "New Folder (1)", "New Folder(2)", etc if the name already exists in the branch. If the user tries to name the new folder with a name that already exists in the branch, or if they try to rename any folder within the branch with a name that is already being used, they should get a message prompting them to the problem.

10) IMHO, a "Preview" pane goes hand in hand with a file explorer. Yes we can implement one of our own as you do in some of your examples, but an integrated part of the control would make it much more powerful. Some file types are pretty straightforward to preview, such as images, html documents, flash, etc. Other file types, such as office documents, might be harder. I think there is a chance you could do these, but even if you couldn't, the integrated preview pane would be a great feature.

11) I'd like to see more in-depth examples and documentation for DB-based providers. While File System providers are important and an obvious start, I think one of the control's biggest benefits will be in putting a simple user interface on interracting with database file systems.

12) this one is a doozey, and maybe its too difficult, even for the brialliant minds at Telerik.. But one of the issues I have always come across with document management systems is the ability to edit documents online. Let's say you have built a DMS that stores a bunch of documents. If a user needs to modify these, even if a straightforward check-out/check-in system has been devised, the document still must be downloaded from the site (or opened in Word, Excel, or whatever), and then modified, and then saved to the user's desktop, and then uploaded back into the web site. it would be world chaning if there were a way to open the document in an Editor (similar to the Image Editor or Rad Editor you have), make the necessary modificatons, and the when the user clicks on "Save" in the editor, the changes are saved back to the file system, or more likely to a database back-end.Even if you weren't able to offer the full assortment of edit tools as Word or whatever the nascent application is, something like this could be immensely valuable. Even now, your Rad Editor product contains many of the most necessary capabilities as far as editing Word Documents.  I am guessing that this would not be possible with many file types, but with Microsoft going to an xml-based framework with their Office2007 files, I am thinking this might become more of a reality at some point.

Anyhow, nice work so far. I am looking forward to future versions.

Hello Albert,

Thank you for the suggestions - such features will indeed be useful in various scenarios. In my answer I will go over each of them and provide more specific feedback.

One important thing to be considered is the core logic behind the RadFileExplorer. And it is that, rather than building in each possible feature (which will make the control very heavy indeed) it is better to provide the ability to easily achieve a desired goal (as well as provide adequate examples, of course). Since the RadFileExplorer uses internally a number of other well-known Telerik products, such as RadGrid, RadToolBar, RadTreeView, etc, it can be seen that some of the features can be implemented by the developer working directly with these inner controls. They have been exposed as public properties to the RadFileExplorer already.

Here are my additional comments on your suggestions:

1) An additional column for "Modified Date" and "FiIe Type".
We are working on the ability for developers to be able to subclass the FileInfo class on the server and add new properties to it (which will automatically result in extra columns shown in the grid). This will allow developers to address any possible requirements and scenarios for extra columns.

2) An additional ClientSelectColumn (checkboxes)
Same as above

3) All columns should be hideable through a property.
You can do so even now by referencing the grid.

4) I haven't tried this on a Mac, but what do people do as far as context menus are concerned?
I am not sure where the problem with the context menus would be on a Mac. That said, if there is a problem, the context menu functionality is essentially duplicated by the options on the RadFileExplorer's toolbar.

5) The ability to create cusom context-menu commands for folders and items.
You can do so now, by accessing the ContextMenus objects.

6) i think the folder list could be implemented in a sliding pane so that it can be closed (yet the tab will still be visible) or opened/pinned.
You could probably try even now by accessing the RadSplitter object and its panes and replacing the first RadPane with a RadSlidingPane (and moving its Controls collection from former to latter).

7) Ideally, the control should contain various "Template" sections, such as the Rad Grid's Command Template.
You can access the RadGrid object and configure it in the manner you need.

8) I believe it has been mentioned, but the control needs server-side accesibility to events (particularly binding events) in order to customize individual items. For example, In many scenarios it would be necessary to provided different permissions on different folders or files.
For backwards-compatibility reasons, the abstraction behind the RadFileExporer is based on an earlier abstraction for the RadEditor FileBrowser dialogs. While the new control features more abilities, we chose the compatibility option to the brand-new-and-more-flexible approach. Hence, some things are possible to improve, but there can sometimes be limitations set by the overall architecture, or at least the way of achieving a scenario might not be the most straightforward one.

9) Ideally, it shouldn't be necessary to pop up a dialog to add a new folder. The tree node should just be added and go into Edit Mode (with the default foldername).
We will consider this for implementation.

10) IMHO, a "Preview" pane goes hand in hand with a file explorer. Yes we can implement one of our own as you do in some of your examples, but an integrated part of the control would make it much more powerful.
We plan to extend the RadFileExplorer architecture to allow for easy integration of Preview panes, as well as (several) default previewers. I am not able to tell you at this point how it will end up, and when it will appear but someting like that will appear for sure.

11) I'd like to see more in-depth examples and documentation for DB-based providers. While File System providers are important and an obvious start, I think one of the control's biggest benefits will be in putting a simple user interface on interracting with database file systems.
With Q1 2009 SP2 we provided extensive new documentation for the RadFileExplorer control, please check it out here:
http://www.telerik.com/help/aspnet-ajax/radfileexplorer-overview.html
and
http://www.telerik.com/help/aspnet-ajax/radfileexplorer-custom-filebrowsercontentprovider.html

12) this one is a doozey, and maybe its too difficult, even for the brialliant minds at Telerik.. But one of the issues I have always come across with document management systems is the ability to edit documents online.
This goes beyond the current scope of the control, but certainly such (existing, independent) document editors can be easily attached/plugged into the current RadFileExplorer implementation even now.


Best wishes,
Tervel
the Telerik team

Hi I have a few questions -

• Do you have any indication of how soon the ability for developers to be able to subclass the FileInfo class on the server and add new properties to it will be available? I'm considering buying these tools to implement a change for one of my customers however one of their main requirements is to show the date column for each file.

 

• With the current version can I manually add a column called "date" and affix a value for each file. This does not have to be the actual date modified value but the date for when the internal contents of a document are relevant to.

 

• Also does this control have to be driven from an actual folder path on a harddisk? The reason why I ask is because the customer has files in a database that I need to read out and present in a view like this. So no actual folder structure exists, I will need to just give the illusion that one exists and virtually create it on the fly when the page loads.

         - Would you suggest manually combining the RAD treeview with the RAD Grid control would be more appropriate?

Thanks
James Sharpe

Hi James,

about your third question.
Take a look at the samples http://demos.telerik.com/aspnet-ajax/fileexplorer/examples/dbfilebrowsercontentprovider/defaultcs.aspx

This sample shows how to drive the FileExplorer from a Database.

Regards

Manfred

Hello James,

The coming Q2 2009 release, scheduled for July 1st will feature an example showing how to implement extra columns to the grid that display extended information about a file.


Best wishes,
Tervel
the Telerik team

Fantastic,  and thanks for the speedy response.

I agree with Shaun in you're getting one step closer to RadDoAllMyWorkForMe!

James

That's just it...DBContentProvider is not anywhere in the files that are installed.

Hi David,

take a look at the samples which are installed to your PC.
They include (I'm almost sure) this provider in sourcecode.

Regards

Manfred

That's what I mean, it is not present in two installations. The path C:\Program Files (x86)\Telerik\RadControls for ASPNET AJAX Q1 2009\Live Demos\FileExplorer\Examples\DBFileBrowserContentProvider contains only the default files and a handler file.

Also, is there documentation describing the specific client-side members? I'm thing of args.get_newPath() for example...is there a method that returns a more complete path?
Thanks, DJ

Hello David,

The implementation of the DBContentProvider is placed in the INSTALL_FOLDER\Telerik\RadControls for ASPNET AJAX Q1 2009\Live Demos\App_Code\Editor folder. In your case the INSTALL_FOLDER is C:\Program Files (x86).

In reference to the second question :
I believe that this help page will be of help.

All the best,
Fiko
the Telerik team

I realise I may be missing something as I would have thought this would be a feature that everyone would be screaming for...

I would like to be able to databind the control in databound controls (grids, datalists, etc...). When building custom CMS's for clients, selecting, uploading and managing image files is a common chore and one which is a bit of a pain as it involves linking filesystem data with db data.....being able to use it 'inline' as a fle selector rather than implementing a pop up would be so much help...

Eg.  Implementing it as a separate pop-up gets tricky when trying to edit data (such as an employee record) in a detailsview or formview control, as I'm yet to find a way to get the javascript to be able to correctly assign the file path to the target textbox within the edititemtemplate or insertitemtemplate

I'm certainly not an expert with the Telerik controls yet, mostly as the javascript side of things holds me back...but I would think having a databindable property such as filepath that you could bind to in controls would be a simple and obvious feature to include.

If anyone knows how to get around this for the above example I'd love to hear it...its doing my brain in!

Hello Trent,

The RadFileExplorer control cannot be bound using the standard DataBind mechanism. Instead you can connect the control to any data source, but you need to implement a custom FileBrowserContentProvider. Fortunately, there an already implemented provider that connects the FileExplorer to SQL database. Please check this online demo for more information. The implementation of the Telerik.Web.Examples.DBContentProvider  class can be found on your hard drive in : InstallDir\Telerik\RadControls for ASPNET AJAX Q3 2009\Live Demos\FileExplorer\Examples\DBFileBrowserContentProvider folder.

I hope this helps.

All the best,
Fiko
the Telerik team

Sorry, I think you misunderstood what I meant.  I want to be able to use the fileexplorer in controls like datalists, formview, or detailview as a databound editor.  For example, using the fileexplorer to allow a user to upload and select a filename that gets sent with the db update or insert command.  When I add a fileexplorer to the insertitemtemplate of a detailview control, i click on edit databindings and try to bind the filename and path of the selected file but there is no exposed property to bind too.

Am I missing something obvious?

Hello Trent,

This scenario is not covered by the RadFileExplorer control, because you need to assign a value to its Paths properties after the parent control (Grid, ListView etc.) is databound. The DataBound event, however is fired after the PageLoad event, and FileExplorer persists its properties values only when they are set latest in the Page_Load event. An example of using a databound control is the DrobDown one. When using this component you could get the selected value in the Page_Load event as well (before the SelectedIndexChanged event):

ASPX:

I hope this information will be of help for better understanding of how the RadFileExplorer control works.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions.

Greetings,
Fiko
the Telerik team

My FileExplorer is associated with a huge directory structure (many level deep with a total size over 2GB) and I would like to see better performance!

Hello Thai,

In this cases I recommend you to enable the Paging feature of the RadFileEplorer control. You can do this by setting the AllowPaging="true" and optionally you can specify the page size by using the PageSize property.  These settings will enable the paging feature of the Grid, embedded in the RadFileExplorer controls.

Also, I recommend you to check the <compilation>  element in the web.config file. If its debug property is set to true then I recommend you to set it to false. This will increase the performance of the application as well.

I hope this helps.

All the best,
Fiko
the Telerik team