Browser Tips

This article documents a few ways in which modern Web browsers can provide an enhanced experience of using RSpace, in particular improving the most common workflows; from reading and writing documents to searching Inventory.

Bookmarking

Creating bookmarks is not exactly a new piece of browser functionality it is worth highlighting that RSpace URLs try to be simple, structured, and predictable. It is worth paying attention to the URL as you navigate around the product as information about the current document, folders, container, sample, search parameters, and much else besides is often recorded there and bookmarking any of those pages will return you to those pages. Here are some examples

Workspace / Document Editor

• /workspace/editor/structuredDocument/123 will take you to the document with ID 123 (i.e. a Global ID of SD123.
• /notebookEditor/123?initialRecordToDisplay=456 will take you to the notebook with ID 123 (NB123), showing the page with ID 456 (SD456).

Gallery

• /gallery/123 will take you to the folder with ID 123 (GF123).
• /gallery/item/123 will take you to the file with ID 123 (GL123), automatically selecting it.

Inventory

• /search takes lots of arguments and can be heavily customised to provide links directly to complex queries of samples and containers. Some of the most useful parameters include parentGlobalId=IC123 which shows all of the contents of the container with id 123.

All of these paths and query strings just need to be appended to your RSpace deployment's domain, so for community that would be https://community.researchspace.com, making URLs to be saved as bookmarks like https://community.researchspace.com/gallery/123 or https://community.researchspace.com/inventory/search?parentGlobalId=IC123.

Global IDs

It is also worth noting that anything with a Global ID can be resolved by appending it to the URL /globalId, so /globalId/IC123 will jump directly to the container with Id 123. Note: that the i of Id must be capitalised.

Custom Search Engine

Following on from looking at specific URLs, most modern browsers have the ability to define custom search engines, which act much like bookmarks but allow for a particular search term to be inserted into the saved URL before opening the page.

In RSpace, this is most useful in Inventory where the /search URL discussed above also takes some textual options, including ownedBy=someUser which shows all of the items owned by the person with username someUser, and query=something which performs a textual search for the word something and which can include lucene queries (e.g. query=l:(tags:"TAG") will search for all records with the tag TAG)

Chrome

To add a custom search engine to Chrome, go the search settings, manage search engines, add a site search, and then fill in required details as shown -- be sure to change the domain to your RSpace deployment.



Now at any time, regardless of what page you are currently viewing, in the Chrome address bar you can type "inv", then space bar or TAB. The address bar will change to say "Search RSpace Inventory".

Now add your search text, e.g "Antibody" and hit return



If you are not already logged in to your RSpace server you will be taken to the login page. If you are logged in the search results will immediately load:

Edge

To add a custom search engine to Edge, go the search settings, manage bar and search, manage search engines, add a site search, and then fill in required details as shown -- be sure to change the domain to your RSpace deployment. Now in the URL bar, just type "inv", hit tab, and then enter something to search Inventory for.

Firefox

To add a custom search engine to Firefox, in Inventory right-click on the search box and click "Add a keyword for this search...", and enter a simple keyword like "inv". Next go to manage your bookmarks and make sure that the URL read "https://my-server.researchspace.com/inventory/search?query=%s", changing "my-server" to the domain of your RSpace deployment. Once saved, you should be able to enter your keyword and a search term (e.g. "inv Antibody") into the URL bar to jump to an Inventory search.

Reader Mode

Some browsers have support for a reader mode; an alternative view of a the current webpage that strips out all of the visual elements except for the textual content to make it easier to review long documents.

Safari

To use this feature to review documents in Safari, simply open an RSpace document and choose the "Show Reader" menu item.

Installing RSpace locally

Some browsers support installing a website as a local application. You'll still need to have an Internet connection to the RSpace server, but RSpace will live alongside your other applications just as if it had been installed from an app store.

Chrome

To install RSpace as a local app via Chrome, choose "Install page as app...". In the dialog that opens, name the new app "RSpace". It will now open as a separate application.

Safari

To install RSpace as a local app via Safari, choose "Add to Dock...". In the dialog that opens, name the new app "RSpace". It will now open as a separate application.

Edge

To install RSpace as a local app via Chrome, choose "Install This Site as an App". In the dialog that opens, name the new app "RSpace". It will now open as a separate application.

AI Writing Tools

Where available, AI writing tools built into browsers and operating systems can also provide additional capabilities when working with documents from generating summaries, transforming paragraphs into bullet points, and general proofreading.

Apple Intelligence on mac OS

For more information on how to use Apple's Writing Tools, see their documentation.