File management
The File management page (sidebar → File management) gives a centralised view of every file uploaded to the current application, independent of which record it may be attached to.
Browsing files
Files are listed in a paginated table. Each row shows:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Preview | Thumbnail for images, file-type icon for documents |
| Filename | The filename (without extension) — editable inline |
| Description | Free-text description — editable inline |
| Keywords | Comma-separated keywords — editable inline |
| Linked records | Badges linking to each record the file is attached to |
| Actions | Replace binary, delete permanently |
Click a thumbnail to open an in-app preview:
- Images → a near-full-screen preview titled with the file's name and extension. The image is scaled down to fit the available height and width (keeping its proportions); a small image is never enlarged and stays centered at its natural size
- Documents / PDFs → inline viewer filling the same preview area
Previous / Next
The preview window has ‹ 3 / 7 › buttons at the bottom, and the ← and → keys do the same: they step through every file the list matches — the current search and Orphans only filter included — not just the page on screen. The files follow the order of the table (newest first), and Esc closes the preview at any time.
With more than 5000 matching files, the navigation stops at the 5000th and the counter shows it (‹ 12 / 5000+ ›).
Filtering and searching
Toggle Orphans only in the toolbar to show only files that are not linked to any record — useful for cleaning up the library after deleting records.
The search box filters by filename, description, keywords, or an exact file id, and can be combined with Orphans only.
Editing metadata
Click any cell in the Filename, Description or Keywords column to edit its value. Changes are saved automatically when you press Enter or click outside the cell.
Renaming a file only changes this label — the file's actual location on the server is always based on its internal id, never on the filename, so renaming never breaks a link, an embedded image, or a download URL. An empty filename is rejected.
Replacing a file
Click the sync icon (↺) in the Actions column to upload a new binary for an existing file. The original description, keywords, and all record links are preserved. If the new file has a different extension, the old physical file is deleted.
Deleting a file
Click the trash icon in the Actions column to permanently delete a file. This removes:
- The physical file from the server
- The
bdus_filesrecord - All
bdus_file_linksrows pointing to it
WARNING
Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. If you only want to detach a file from a specific record, use the Unlink action in the record's file gallery instead.
File actions in RecordView
When editing a record, the file gallery (right sidebar) provides additional per-record file operations:
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Upload | Upload a new file and attach it to this record |
| Link existing | Pick a file already in the library and attach it without re-uploading |
| Unlink (chain icon) | Remove the file from this record only — the file remains in the library |
| Delete (trash icon) | Permanently delete the file from the whole application |
| Reorder | Drag the grip handle to change the display order within this record |