Problem
ShowFinder should make a microscopy data folder understandable before the user opens individual files. Right now the desired behavior is not fully specified for 4D-STEM folders: users need to quickly see what is inside a selected folder, which files are supported, and whether the folder contains useful 4D-STEM data without manually opening every file.
For electron microscopy workflows, this matters because folders often contain many raw, processed, preview, metadata, and exported files. A useful finder widget should provide a compact visual summary and selection workflow, not just a file list.
Proposed solution
Define and implement ShowFinder folder inspection for microscopy data, with 4D-STEM as a first-class supported workflow.
Expected behavior:
- User can give a folder path from Python/Jupyter.
- Widget scans the folder and shows a concise summary of supported files.
- 4D-STEM files are detected and summarized with shape, dtype, estimated size, and metadata when available.
- Widget generates useful thumbnails for 4D-STEM data, for example mean diffraction pattern, virtual bright-field preview, virtual dark-field preview, and/or scan summary.
- Thumbnail generation should be lazy or cached so large folders stay responsive.
- User can select one folder, multiple files, or a subset of files, and the selected paths are synced back to Python state.
- Unsupported files should be shown clearly without blocking useful supported files.
- The UI should make the folder contents understandable at a glance: file type, size, status, preview, and selection state.
- Large-data behavior should be explicit: do not silently load full 4D-STEM stacks into the browser just to make thumbnails.
- Add tests for file discovery, 4D-STEM detection, thumbnail fallback behavior, selected-path state, and unsupported-file handling.
- Add at least one browser/HTML report or storyboard so agents and maintainers can visually validate the folder summary and thumbnails.
Problem
ShowFinder should make a microscopy data folder understandable before the user opens individual files. Right now the desired behavior is not fully specified for 4D-STEM folders: users need to quickly see what is inside a selected folder, which files are supported, and whether the folder contains useful 4D-STEM data without manually opening every file.
For electron microscopy workflows, this matters because folders often contain many raw, processed, preview, metadata, and exported files. A useful finder widget should provide a compact visual summary and selection workflow, not just a file list.
Proposed solution
Define and implement ShowFinder folder inspection for microscopy data, with 4D-STEM as a first-class supported workflow.
Expected behavior: