Tabbles


Tabbles is a relational file manager, running on Windows systems. The name "Tabbles" is portmanteau of tag and bubbles.

Overview

Tabbles generates in real-time a tag-based relational file system, where tags can be accessed as folders or used as keywords for search. It supports any kind of files and documents on local and shared drives, as well as many cloud storage or file synchronization systems. Tabbles allows users to collaboratively tag files on network drives, through group and user policy management.

Data management model

Tabbles implements a relational approach to file and data management, as an extension to the traditional file management being hierarchically structured, similar to Microsoft's WinFS. Files, emails and bookmarks are categorized by labeling them with tags, instead of placing them in hierarchical folders or containers. The data is then browsed, sorted and retrieved by navigating and searching through tags, or combination of tags. Tags are visualised and browsed as virtual folders. A relational file system is generated dynamically, independently from the physical location of the data. This allows for files or emails physically stored in different folders or machines, to be grouped and browsed together at once.

Technology

Tabbles was among the first commercial software developed in F# and WPF, and was featured on F# creator's blog. It has a client-server architecture, requires a Microsoft SQL Server to run and relies on stored procedures for the core logic and the security management. Tabbles is tightly integrated with Windows and Windows Explorer using several APIs: FileSystemWatcher, IFileOperationProgressSync, Overlay Handlers, ContextMenu Handlers, Win32 API, Office interop, Outlook interop. It uses VSTO to integrate into Microsoft Outlook.

Features

Tabbles received multiple reviews, among others from the Washington Post, Lifehacker, Chip and several paper magazines. Reviews were typically mildly positive and focused on the innovative side of the application.