Objects versioning
Object versioning allows you to maintain multiple revisions of an object within a versioned bucket. Each time an object is modified or deleted in a versioned bucket, a new revision is created instead of replacing or removing the existing one.
To follow this guide, you will need a bucket with versioning enabled. If you have not enabled versioning on your bucket yet, please refer to the Bucket versioning documentation.
In the Explorer interface, we use the term "Revision" instead of "Version" to avoid confusion with the S3 API's VersionID system. While the underlying S3-compatible API uses VersionID, we have chosen to use "Revision" in our interface for clarity. You can still access the actual VersionID by using the "Copy Revision ID" button available in the versions drawer.
The latest revision is always the one with the highest number.
Working with versioned objects
For this example, we will use a bucket named new-versioned-bucket that already has versioning enabled.
Uploading a new revision from the Explorer import button
There are two ways to upload a new revision on a versioned bucket
When the object is already in the bucket, you can upload a new revision by clicking the "Upload" button in the versions drawer.
If the object you are trying to upload has the exact same name as an existing object in the bucket, you will be prompted to create a new version of the existing object.
Viewing and adding object revisions from the versions drawer
To view the revisions of an object:
- Click on the menu icon at the end of an object's row
- Select "Versions" from the dropdown menu
This will open the versions drawer showing all revisions of the object, ordered from newest to oldest.
You can also use this feature to upload a new revision, by opening the drawer from the object's row menu, and using the "Versions" menu item.
From the versions listing drawer, you can upload a new revision by clicking the Upload new .<extension> file button.
The Explorer will force you to upload a file with the same extension as the existing object, but contrary to the Import button feature, the name can be different, the Explorer will automatically rename the file to the existing object name to upload it as a new revision.
Managing revisions
Each revision in the versions drawer has its own set of actions available through the menu icon:
- Preview: View the contents of that specific revision
- Download: Download the specific revision
- Compare to latest version: Compare this revision with another revision
- Delete permanently: Remove this specific revision (cannot be undone)
Deleting a revision is permanent and cannot be undone. Make sure you want to permanently remove the revision before proceeding with deletion, warning will be displayed before deletion.
Working with revision IDs
If you need the S3 API's VersionID of a revision, you can copy it from the versions drawer by clicking the "Copy Revision ID" button.
