Using the User Interface in Nexus Repository 2

Nexus Repository Manager Pro and Nexus Repository Manager OSS provide anonymous access for users who only need to search repositories, browse repositories and peruse the system feeds. This anonymous access level changes the navigation menu and some of the options available when you right-click on a repository. This read-only access displays the user interface shown in Figure 5.1, “User Interface for Anonymous Users”.

Figure 5.1. User Interface for Anonymous Users

The user interface is used with a web browser and works best with modern browsers. Older versions such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or earlier are not supported and actively blocked from using the user interface to avoid an unsatisfactory user experience. Internet Explorer 8 works up to Nexus Repository Manager 2.8 and is not supported for newer releases.

The user interface is separated into a number of different sections.

Header

The top of the page contains the header and on the right-hand side the Log In button, which is replaced with a drop-down to log out, as well as navigate to the users profile, on log in. The header displays the version of Nexus Repository Manager and potentially the availability of a newer version.

Main Menu

The left-hand side of the application features the main menu with a number of submenus. The panel itself can be horizontally collapsed and expanded with the button in the top right-hand corner of the panel. Each submenu can be vertically collapsed and expanded with the button beside the title for each submenu. Depending on the access rights for the current user, different submenus and menu items are displayed.

Main Panel

The main panel of the application to the right of the main menu can host different tabs for different selections on the submenus in the navigation. Each tab can be closed individually and selected as the active tab.

Figure 5.2, “Typical Example User Interface with Repository List and Details” shows a typical user interface appearance with multiple tabs in the main panel. The activated panel Repositories shows a list of repositories with the current selection highlighted. The panels underneath the list show details for the selected list item.

Figure 5.2. Typical Example User Interface with Repository List and Details

The list header features buttons for various operations as well as an input box that allows you to filter the list by any terms used in any column. Figure 5.3, “Filtering the Repository List to Display Only Snapshot Repositories” shows an example use case where a user typed "snap" in the filter box and the list of repositories only shows snapshot repositories. This filtering works for all columns in a list and can be used in most list displays. For example, you can use it to filter the users list to find disabled users, filter the routing list, the roles list and many more.

The column headers in most lists can be clicked to invoke a sorting of the list by the respective column.

Figure 5.3. Filtering the Repository List to Display Only Snapshot Repositories