The DataFinder’s main functionalities are:

• Data up- and downloading
• Applying standardised and user-defined meta information to data
  
• A search function where several search terms can be combined
  
• Script processing to automate workflows (e.g. automatic up- and downloading or calculations).
  

Managing the data structures at a central location and describing the data by standardised meta information makes it significantly easier to find data and therefore avoid duplicate work. Users can also use partial results or input data from other calculations already available on the servers for their current work without having to generate the same data again. The flexible meta data concept further allows users to add additional meta information to the data on the servers.

The DataFinder user interface consists of a platform-independent user client that allows users to navigate through the existing data, search for data, create and manage meta information for all data, and execute scripts stored locally or on the server. The DataFinder client was developed in Python and the Qt GUI library and therefore offers a platform-typical look and feel on any platform.

On the server side, data management solutions using the DataFinder are based on open and flexible standards such as the WebDAV protocol, and are therefore easily extendable and flexible. Currently supported WebDAV servers are the Tamino XML server by Software AG as a commercial solution, and the Catacomb WebDAV server, which is the product of an open source project. These servers allow server-side searching and automatic versioning of documents and data.

The DataFinder is developed and enhanced in the D-Grid Integration Project (Data Management Area of Specialisation) and provided as an easy-to-use tool for scientific data management in grids.