Working with a large number of files on the web can be tedious, especially if you want to download, upload, or set annotations and provenance. The command line, Python client and R client have convenience functions for bulk upload and download. Uploading require a tab delimited manifest where each file to be uploaded and, optionally, annotations to be applied, are specified as a row in the file. Downloading in bulk requires identifying a container (Folder, Project, Table, or View) that contains the files of interest. In this article we will cover how to:
Files to be uploaded are specified in a tab separated (.tsv) manifest. The manifest has columns that contain information about each file to be uploaded along with annotations that will be associated with the file in Synapse.
The required columns in the manifest are:
path: the directory of the file to be uploadedparent: the Synapse ID of the Folder to upload toIt is optional to link provenance - the used column can indicate files that were used to create the one being uploaded, and the executed column can indicate code (in Synapse or on the web) that was used to generate the file. Here is an example manifest that uploads a single file:
| path | parent | name | used | executed | emotion | species |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /path/to/file.csv | syn123 | Tardar Sauce | syn654 | https://github.com/your/code/repo | grumpy | cat |
The above manifest describes a “file.csv” that will be uploaded to the Synapse folder syn123 and named “Tardar Sauce”. The manifest describes the provenance of the file indicating that it was generated using code deposited in GitHub (https://github.com/your/code/repo) from the data in syn654. Additionally, the file has been annotated with emotion: grumpy and species: cat. Additional annotations could be associated with the file by adding more columns.
To review:
Download the template.
The format of the manifest file (called ‘filesToUpload.tsv’ in this example) can be validated prior to upload by using the parameter dryRun in syncToSynapse.
Using the validated manifest above, you can now upload the files to Synapse by removing the dryRun parameter. Once the upload is complete, you will receive an email notification. This notification will also delineate errors from the upload.
Files can be downloaded in bulk using the syncFromSynapse function. This function allows you to download all the files in a folder or project along with all the annotations and provenance on those files. A manifest file called SYNAPSE_METADATA_MANIFEST.tsv that contains the metadata will also be added in the path.
You can edit files in bulk by changing the values in the manifest and pushing it up to Synapse using the syncToSynapse function. The manifest allows you to modify everything: file path, provenance, annotations, and versions. However, if only annotations are being updated, we recommend using our File Views feature.
Please note that you cannot move things with a manifest. If the parentId is changed, it will create a copy and the file will exist in two different locations.
Downloading Data, Provenance, Annotations and Queries, File Views, Files and Versioning
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