What is the Archive Browser?
The Archive Browser lets you search and retrieve files from a ZDDC-compliant archive stored on your local file system. Everything runs in your browser — no data is transmitted anywhere.
Getting Started
- When opened from a web server, the archive loads automatically from that server.
- Click Use Local Directory to open a local archive folder — works in both offline and online modes, and local files are merged with any server files already loaded.
- The browser scans for grouping folders and transmittal folders automatically.
- Select folders in the left panel to see their files in the main table.
Navigating Folders
The left panel has two sections:
- Parties
- Top-level folders representing other parties. Select one or more to filter which transmittals are shown. Use the folder type buttons above the list to show or hide Issued, Received, MDL, and Incoming folder content.
- Transmittal Folders
- Grouped by date. Select one or more to filter which files appear in the table.
Multi-select: Hold Ctrl and click to toggle individual folders. Hold Shift and click to select a range. Ctrl+Click a chevron (▶) to recursively expand or collapse all sub-folders.
Searching and Filtering
- Column Filters
- Type in the filter row under each column header to filter by tracking number, title, or revision/status/extension. Filters support the expression syntax below. Active filters are highlighted in blue; use the ↺ reset button in the toolbar to clear all filters at once.
term- Contains "term" (case-insensitive)
!term- Does not contain "term"
^term- Starts with "term"
term$- Ends with "term"
a b- Matches both (AND)
a | b- Matches either (OR)
^IFA | ^IFB- Starts with IFA or IFB
pdf !draft- Contains "pdf" and not "draft"
!^~- Does not start with ~ (excludes drafts)
el.*spc- Regex: contains "el" followed by "spc" (use
. for any char, .* for any sequence)
[ei]fa- Regex character class: matches "efa" or "ifa"
- Modifiers
- Use the Modifiers dropdown to show or hide files by revision modifier type (+B, +C, +N, +Q, or base).
Downloading Files
- Download Selected (ZIP)
- Packages all checked files into a ZIP archive for download.
- Export Selected (CSV)
- Exports the visible file list as a CSV spreadsheet.
- File Preview
- When enabled, clicking a PDF, Word, or Excel file opens a preview popup instead of downloading it.
Keyboard Shortcuts
- Ctrl+A
- Select / deselect all visible files in the table.
- F5
- Refresh — rescan the current directory.
- Escape
- Close this help panel (or any open modal).
Windows Path Length Note
Windows limits file paths to 260 characters by default. If files are skipped during scanning, map your archive to a short drive letter using subst Z: "C:\Your\Long\Path" in an Administrator Command Prompt, then open the Z: drive in the Archive Browser.