7.5. DataLad in a graphical user interface

DataLad is primarily a command line or Python tool. However, the datalad gooey extensions extends it with a graphical user interface.

7.5.1. Selected features

The ideal way to stay up-to-date on gooey developments is its documentation at docs.datalad.org/projects/gooey. A few selected advantages are featured here, nevertheless.

7.5.1.1. Installation

In contrast to other DataLad extensions, datalad-gooey can not only be installed via pip. It also has a standalone Windows installer that bundles up all required software into a single installation wizard. On a typical Windows system, this simplifies the installation considerably.

7.5.1.2. Speed

datalad-gooey has internal helpers for faster annotations (whether a file is annexed, committed to Git, modified, or untracked) and file tree overviews. This makes it more convenient especially on filesystems that are generally slower for Git operations, such as Window’s NTFS.

7.5.1.3. Credential Management

datalad-gooey comes with a more user-friendly graphical credential management system. It allows to access and browse available credentials more easily, and provides and interface to add, change, or amend credentials with arbitrary properties.

7.5.1.4. Subselected command suites

The number of DataLad commands that the core DataLad package and the DataLad extensions provide is substantial. Likewise, the number of options and parameters any given command provides can be overwhelming or not easily understandable. Whenever a specific target audience or use case needs only a subset of commands or command options, or a more verbose description, datalad-gooey has the ability to expose tailored command suites, which can limit the number of commands, provide custom command annotations, and subset the number of exposed options. A tailored command suite either comes with datalad-gooey itself, or with a datalad extension, and users can switch between available suites. If you develop your own extension, you can create a tailor-made and more user-friendly command suite to go with it.