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.
- Offline (this page saved and opened from your computer), click Use Local Directory to open a local archive folder. A page served by the server reads the server's archive and doesn't offer it.
- 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. Each row carries one toggle per transmittal slot — Issued and Received, both on by default — which narrow what is on screen, merged archive records included. The header row above the list applies the same toggles to all parties at once.
- Transmittal Folders
- Grouped by date. Select one or more to filter which files appear in the table.
Showing the Archive Underneath
This tool shows the folder it was opened at: open it on a drafting or handoff folder and you see what is in that folder. The Archive checkbox in the toolbar pulls the archive in underneath, at the same grain as what you opened — the whole archive from a folder that holds every party, or one party's archive from that party's folder. Merged records arrive as ordinary rows: the Source column names the folder each file lives in, a merged file carries a small tinted chip, and a record present both in the archive and where you are shows twice — that pair is what "pending commit" looks like. The checkbox is off by default, is disabled while you are already looking at the archive, and disables with the reason when no archive is reachable from where you opened.
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, revision/status/extension, source (the folder a file lives in), or mailbox. 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.