Downloading and transferring files via data requests
Introduction
Downloading or transferring data from the the myDRE workspace always follows an approval flow. This means that a download (to local machine) or transfer request (to another workspace) needs to be requested by the member, which will then be reviewed by the workspace's Accountable and/or Privileged members.
Once a data request is submitted, an email notification will be sent to the data request approver(s) (workspace Accountable and Privileged members). The approver(s) can then log into the myDRE portal and either approve or reject the request. If the data request is approved, the requester will receive an email notifying them that their request has been approved. The requester can then log in to mydre.org, navigate to the Data requests section, and download the requested data file.
Only data requestor is able to download approved data file.
Data and transfer requests from the Accountable and Privileged members are auto-approved.
How to create a download request for downloading data
- Go to Files in the workspace.
- Select the files you want to download.
- Click on the Request download button.
- Confirm your request and download request will be created
- You will receive an e-mail once your request have been approved.
- Navigate to Data Requests. You will see all your data requests in this overview, select the one you wish to view
- By clicking on the download or transfer request you can view Details of your approved requests. Here you will also see a download link if your request was approved.
Download requests can have the following status:
- Pending - when a user requests a download, it will show up in the owner's list. Its initial status will be Pending until the request is approved or denied.
- Declined - an owner can decline a request when they judge the request to be invalid. Once rejected, the status will be changed to Declined.
- Approved - an owner can approve the request when they judge the request to be valid. Once approved, the status will be changed to Approved. For owners, every request is immediately set to Approved.
The data request overview will now also show whether the data transfer is for a download to local storage or a transfer to a different workspace.
How to approve or deny a data or file transfer request
When a download request or file transfer request is created, Workspace Accountable and Privileged members of the workspace receive a notification through e-mail.
Workspace Accountable or Privileged members have to login to the myDRE portal in order to Preview, Approve or Reject the data request.
- To approve or deny a request, navigate to Data Requests.
- Click on any specific data request to view details.
- With the download link you, as data request approver, can download the file to check whether you allow the download of this particular file.
- Click on the Approve or Reject button.
- The Member that requested the data will receive an e-mail with the decision.
Data request can be withdrawn after the approval. However, be aware that the file might have already been downloaded!
How to create a transfer request for moving data from workspace to workspace
If you are part of multiple workspace, you can transfer data from workspace to workspace using the Data transfer functionality.
- Go to Files in the workspace.
- Select the files you want to transfer.
If you have multiple files or folders you want to transfer, please zip them beforehand.
- Click on the Request transfer and select a target workspace from the list. Click OK.
- The list will display workspaces of which you're a member. Select the target workspace and click transfer.
- If you're Accountable or Privileged member of the source workspace, the transfer will be automatically approved but will also be logged under Data Requests, otherwise it will go through the same approval flow as a download request.
What happens to the data request after 30 days?
A bit of a technical answer -
- When a data request is created, our backend creates a temporary container in a shared storage that holds the request metadata (information about workspace, requester, files, timestamps etc), along with the actual files that are requested to be downloaded / transferred.
- What happens to the expired requests (i.e. the requests older than 30 days)? - We have a nightly service that looks for all the containers older than 30 days and delete them so the request or its contents do not remain anywhere.
In short, if someone does not act upon the request within 30 days, the request is removed from the system permanently.
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