File System Providers

File system providers are components that provide APIs used to access and modify virtual file systems. This section describes file system providers supported by the FileManager.

Custom

A custom file system provider allows you to implement custom APIs to access and use file systems.

import CustomFileSystemProvider from "devextreme/file_management/custom_provider"

Use the custom provider's methods to handle file operations (add, delete, rename, and so on).

The following code shows how to create a custom file system provider and bind the FileManager UI component to it:

jQuery
index.js
$(function () {
    $("#file-manager").dxFileManager({ 
        fileSystemProvider: new DevExpress.fileManagement.CustomFileSystemProvider({ 
            getItems: function(pathInfo) { 
                // Your code goes here
            }, 
            renameItem: function(item, name) { 
                // Your code goes here
            }, 
            createDirectory: function(parentDir, name) { 
                // Your code goes here
            }, 
            deleteItem: function(item) { 
                // Your code goes here
            }, 
            // ...
        }) 
    });
});
Angular
app.component.html
app.component.ts
app.module.ts
<dx-file-manager 
    [fileSystemProvider]="fileSystemProvider">
</dx-file-manager>
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import CustomFileSystemProvider from 'devextreme/file_management/custom_provider'; 

@Component({
    selector: 'app-root',
    templateUrl: './app.component.html',
    styleUrls: ['./app.component.css']
})

export class AppComponent {
    fileSystemProvider: CustomFileSystemProvider;
    constructor(http: HttpClient) {
        this.fileSystemProvider = new CustomFileSystemProvider({
            getItems,
            createDirectory,
            renameItem,
            deleteItem,
            // ...
        });
    }
}

function getItems(parentDirectory) {
    // ...
}
// other functions
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import { DxFileManagerModule } from 'devextreme-angular';

@NgModule({
    declarations: [
        AppComponent
    ],
    imports: [
        BrowserModule,
        DxFileManagerModule
    ],
    //...
})
export class AppModule { }
Vue
App.vue
<template>
    <DxFileManager
        :file-system-provider="fileSystemProvider">
    </DxFileManager>
</template>

<script>
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css'; 
import { DxFileManager } from 'devextreme-vue/file-manager';
import CustomFileSystemProvider from 'devextreme/file_management/custom_provider';

export default {
    components: {
        DxFileManager
    },

    data() {
        return {
            fileSystemProvider: new CustomFileSystemProvider({
                getItems,
                createDirectory,
                renameItem,
                deleteItem,
                // ...
            }),
        };
    }
};

function getItems(parentDirectory) {
    // ...
}
// other functions

</script>
React
App.js
import React from 'react';
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css';
import FileManager from 'devextreme-react/file-manager';
import CustomFileSystemProvider from 'devextreme/file_management/custom_provider';

class App extends React.Component {
    render() {
        constructor() {
            super();
            this.fileSystemProvider = new CustomFileSystemProvider({
                getItems,
                createDirectory,
                renameItem,
                deleteItem,
                // ...
            });
        }
        return (
            <FileManager 
                fileSystemProvider={fileSystemProvider}>
            </FileManager>
        );
    }
}
function getItems(parentDirectory) {
    // ...
}
// other functions

export default App;
ASP.NET MVC Controls
Razor C#
@(Html.DevExtreme().FileManager()
    .FileSystemProvider(provider => provider.Custom()
        .GetItems("getItems")
        .CreateDirectory("createDirectory")
        .RenameItem("renameItem")
        .DeleteItem("deleteItem")
        // ...
    )    
)

<script>
    function getItems(parentDirectory) {
        // ...
    }
    // other functions
</script>
ASP.NET Core Controls
Razor C#
@(Html.DevExtreme().FileManager()
    .FileSystemProvider(provider => provider.Custom()
        .GetItems("getItems")
        .CreateDirectory("createDirectory")
        .RenameItem("renameItem")
        .DeleteItem("deleteItem")
        // ...
    )    
)

<script>
    function getItems(parentDirectory) {
        // ...
    }
    // other functions
</script>

Object

The Object file system provider works with a file system represented by an in-memory array of JSON objects.

import ObjectFileSystemProvider from "devextreme/file_management/object_provider"

View Demo

Assign the array to the data property. Data object fields should have conventional names listed in the data description. Otherwise, specify [fieldName]Expr properties: nameExpr, sizeExpr, dateModifiedExpr, and so on.

The following code shows how to bind the FileManager to the Object file system provider:

jQuery
index.js
data.js
$(function() {
    $("#file-manager").dxFileManager({            
        fileSystemProvider: fileSystem,
        // ...
    });
});
var fileSystem = [
{
    name: "Documents",
    isDirectory: true,
    items: [{
        name: "Projects",
        isDirectory: true,
        items: [{
            name: "About.rtf",
            isDirectory: false,
            size: 1024
        }, {
            name: "Passwords.rtf",
            isDirectory: false,
            size: 2048
        }]
    }, {
        name: "About.xml",
        isDirectory: false,
        size: 1024
    }]
}];
Angular
app.component.html
app.component.ts
app.module.ts
<dx-file-manager id="fileManager"
    [fileSystemProvider]="fileItems">
</dx-file-manager>
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import ObjectFileSystemProvider from 'devextreme/file_management/object_provider'; 

@Component({
    selector: 'app-root',
    templateUrl: './app.component.html',
    styleUrls: ['./app.component.css']
})

export class AppComponent {
    fileItems = [{
        name: "Documents",
        isDirectory: true,
        items: [{
            name: "Projects",
            isDirectory: true,
            items: [{
                name: "About.rtf",
                isDirectory: false,
                size: 1024
            }, {
                name: "Passwords.rtf",
                isDirectory: false,
                size: 2048
            }]
        },{
            name: "About.xml",
            isDirectory: false,
            size: 1024
        }]
    }];    
}
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import { DxFileManagerModule } from 'devextreme-angular';

@NgModule({
    declarations: [
        AppComponent
    ],
    imports: [
        BrowserModule,
        DxFileManagerModule
    ],
    //...
})
export class AppModule { }
Vue
App.vue
data.js
<template>
    <DxFileManager
        :file-system-provider="fileItems">
    </DxFileManager>
</template>

<script>
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css';     

import { 
    DxFileManager
} from 'devextreme-vue/file-manager';
import { fileItems } from "./data.js";

export default {
    components: {
        DxFileManager
    },

    data() {
        return {
            fileItems
        };
    }
};
</script>
export const fileItems = [{
    'name': 'Documents',
    'isDirectory': true,
    'items': [{
        'name': 'Projects',
        'isDirectory': true,
        'items': [{
            'name': 'About.rtf',
            'isDirectory': false,
            'size': 1024
        }, {
            'name': 'Passwords.rtf',
            'isDirectory': false,
            'size': 2048
        }]
    }, {
        'name': 'About.xml',
        'isDirectory': false,
        'size': 1024
    }]
}];
React
App.js
data.js
import React from 'react';
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css';
import FileManager from 'devextreme-react/file-manager';
import ObjectFileSystemProvider from 'devextreme/file_management/object_provider';

class App extends React.Component {
    render() {
        return (
            <FileManager fileSystemProvider={fileItems}>
            </FileManager>
        );
    }
}
export default App;
export const fileItems = [{
    'name': 'Documents',
    'isDirectory': true,
    'items': [{
        'name': 'Projects',
        'isDirectory': true,
        'items': [{
            'name': 'About.rtf',
            'isDirectory': false,
            'size': 1024
        }, {
            'name': 'Passwords.rtf',
            'isDirectory': false,
            'size': 2048
        }]
    }, {
        'name': 'About.xml',
        'isDirectory': false,
        'size': 1024
    }]
}];
ASP.NET MVC Controls
Razor C#
@(Html.DevExtreme().FileManager()
    .FileSystemProvider(new JS("fileSystem"))
)

<script src="~/data/fileSystem.js"></script>
ASP.NET Core Controls
Razor C#
@(Html.DevExtreme().FileManager()
    .FileSystemProvider(new JS("fileSystem"))
)

<script src="~/data/fileSystem.js"></script>

Remote

The Remote file system provider works with a file system located on the server.

import RemoteFileSystemProvider from "devextreme/file_management/remote_provider"

View Demo

Set the endpointUrl property to specify the endpoint used to access and modify the file system.

The server should return data objects of the following structure:

{
    name: "MyFile.jpg",
    size: 1024,
    dateModified: "2019/05/08",
    thumbnail: "/thumbnails/images/jpeg.ico",
    isDirectory: true,
    hasSubDirectories: true
}

Fields in this structure have conventional names that you can change via [fieldName]Expr properties: nameExpr, sizeExpr, dateModifiedExpr, and so on.

The following code shows how to bind the FileManager to the Remote file system provider:

jQuery
index.js
$(function () {
    $("#file-manager").dxFileManager({            
        fileSystemProvider: new DevExpress.fileManagement.RemoteFileSystemProvider({
            endpointUrl: "https://js.devexpress.com/Demos/Mvc/api/file-manager-file-system-scripts"
        }),
        // ...
    });
});
Angular
app.component.html
app.component.ts
app.module.ts
<dx-file-manager id="fileManager"
    [fileSystemProvider]="remoteFileProvider">
    <!-- ... -->
</dx-file-manager>
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import RemoteFileSystemProvider from 'devextreme/file_management/remote_provider';

@Component({
    selector: 'app-root',
    templateUrl: 'app/app.component.html',
    styleUrls: ['app/app.component.css']
})  

export class AppComponent {
    remoteFileProvider: RemoteFileSystemProvider;

    constructor() {
        this.remoteFileProvider = new RemoteFileSystemProvider({
            endpointUrl: "https://js.devexpress.com/Demos/Mvc/api/file-manager-file-system-scripts"
        });
    }
}
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { NgModule} from '@angular/core';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import { DxFileManagerModule } from 'devextreme-angular';

@NgModule({
    imports: [
        BrowserModule,
        DxFileManagerModule
    ],
    declarations: [AppComponent],
    bootstrap: [AppComponent]
})
export class AppModule { }
Vue
App.vue
<template>
    <DxFileManager
        :file-system-provider="remoteFileProvider">
        <!-- ... -->
    </DxFileManager>
</template>

<script>
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css'; 

import { DxFileManager } from 'devextreme-vue/file-manager';

import RemoteFileSystemProvider from 'devextreme/file_management/remote_provider';

const remoteFileProvider = new RemoteFileSystemProvider({
    endpointUrl: 'https://js.devexpress.com/Demos/Mvc/api/file-manager-file-system-scripts'
});

export default {
    components: {
        DxFileManager
    },
    data() {
        return {
            remoteFileProvider
        };
    }
};
</script>
React
App.js
import React from 'react';

import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css';

import FileManager from 'devextreme-react/file-manager';
import RemoteFileSystemProvider from 'devextreme/file_management/remote_provider';

const remoteFileProvider = new RemoteFileSystemProvider({
    endpointUrl: 'https://js.devexpress.com/Demos/Mvc/api/file-manager-file-system-scripts'
});

class App extends React.Component {
    render() {
        return (
            <FileManager 
                fileSystemProvider={remoteFileProvider}>
                {/* ... */}
            </FileManager>
        );
    }
}
export default App;
ASP.NET MVC Controls
Razor C#
@(Html.DevExtreme().FileManager()
    .FileSystemProvider(provider => provider.Remote()
        .Url(Url.RouteUrl("FileManagerDBProviderApi")))
)

<!--FileManagerDBProviderApiController-->
[Route("api/file-manager-file-system", Name = "FileManagementFileSystemApi")]
public object FileSystem(FileSystemCommand command, string arguments) {
    var config = new FileSystemConfiguration {
        Request = Request,
        FileSystemProvider = new PhysicalFileSystemProvider(_hostingEnvironment.ContentRootPath + "/wwwroot"),
        // ...
    };
    var processor = new FileSystemCommandProcessor(config);
    var result = processor.Execute(command, arguments);
    return result.GetClientCommandResult();
}
ASP.NET Core Controls
Razor C#
@(Html.DevExtreme().FileManager()
    .FileSystemProvider(provider => provider.Remote()
        .Url(Url.RouteUrl("FileManagerDBProviderApi")))
)

<!--FileManagerDBProviderApiController-->
[Route("api/file-manager-file-system", Name = "FileManagementFileSystemApi")]
public object FileSystem(FileSystemCommand command, string arguments) {
    var config = new FileSystemConfiguration {
        Request = Request,
        FileSystemProvider = new PhysicalFileSystemProvider(_hostingEnvironment.ContentRootPath + "/wwwroot"),
        // ...
    };
    var processor = new FileSystemCommandProcessor(config);
    var result = processor.Execute(command, arguments);
    return result.GetClientCommandResult();
}

On the server-side, you need to process file management requests. DevExtreme provides helpers for ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET Core that do this. To view the server-side code, navigate to the FileManagerApiController.cs tab in the following demo:

View Demo