When your project is growing you will soon realize that Windows File Manager is no longer a solution. Developers start looking for something more powerful and robust. The choice of File Managers provided today is overwhelming. The tools have different functionality, license terms, compatibility. To make things clear, let's make a list of typical requirements for a common file manager solution. • create, save, move, delete files • various view modes • drag-n-drop support • embedded video/audio recorders • embedded editors of files • marking and highlighting files • grouping and search • monitoring free space After exploring what a file manager can do, let's look through some popular solutions. 1. Webix File Manager This is a complex widget of the Webix UI library. It can be used independently, or you may choose to build the solution into your environment. The manager has numerous view modes (Table, Cards, Split panels), a built-in editor, and media files recorder. The tool is integrated with all modern frameworks and browsers. The library provides detailed documentation for the developers as well as coding samples and demos. 2. DHTMLX File Manager This tool includes all the common functionality, like uploading and downloading files, free space tracking, arranging folders, etc. The DataView component allows arranging multiple files within a single container. The tool also provides users with easy and handy navigation, a form to interact with uploaded files, and a convenient tree structure to know where all your files are. The library offers other components and demos for coping with typical web development requirements. 3. DevExtreme FileManager DevExtreme offers UI components for web development that can be easily integrated with popular modern frameworks, such as Angular, React, jQuery, Vue. The FileManager component arranges a set of hierarchical items in a file system structure. All the functions are fully customizable. 4. Syncfusion File Manager This is a lightweight solution for the effective arrangement of files in the system. The layout of the solution is customizable, various views can be applied, the toolbar and the navigation panel can be moved, features can be removed or expanded. File operations include uploading, downloading, sorting, searching, drag-n-drop. The File Manager component allows managing data from local storage, cloud storage, and database storage services. 5. Bootstrap File Manager This solution also allows the uploading of various types of files. There is a set of skins and themes available. Among other additional features is the built-in Image Editor, with the help of which pictures can be resized, captions can be added, etc. The feature of access control allows disabling any features for the side of the client or the server. The solution can be used as it is, or it may supplement other popular web editors, such as CKEditor. 6. CKFinder As the above-mentioned, this solution is also connected with editing images in CKEditor. Any type of file can be uploaded and edited. Multiple uploads and automatic upload from Word files are also included in the possibilities. Access control ensures the security of the files in the system. 7. Kendo UI for jQuery FileManager Kendo offers a set of components for the four most popular frameworks. The one presented here is for jQuery. It has the typical functionality of Windows Explorer. All the components of the Kendo UI are backed with detailed documentation, demos, tutorials, and a numerous community of developers. Kendo also provides similar tools for React and Vue. 8. Infragistics File Explorer Infragistics is a toolbox for creating web designs. The file explorer can be built with the help of the igTreeGrid control. The resulting solution will be quite simple though it will cope with all the standard tasks of a file managing system. It will arrange folders, filter the contents, collapse and expand the files. 9. elFinder This is an open-source project. It is written in JavaScript with jQuery. All the basic operations with the files are supported. The tool is quite easy to use and to study. 10. FileRun This is a file management system available for various types of devices. The virtual drive allows not to use the space of the disk and to work with the files from any place with an Internet connection. All the files are easily downloaded and can be archived in folders. A free version of the project offers 5 user accounts by default. Conclusion The choice of file managers is quite wide. But once you choose one, it will become a handy and helpful solution that will make the process of web development faster and easier. The important thing is to carefully study the requirements of every particular project.
