Structured Download

Overview

Download… in the Object Browser is a submenu that offers three ways to download IBM i source members to a local folder. The original single-member download is still available as Member, and two new structured layout options organize downloads into subfolders that reflect the IBM i QSYS hierarchy.

The structured options are particularly useful when migrating IBM i source into a Git repository, as they produce a folder layout that is ready for version control.

How to Use

1. In the Object Browser/Filter, right-click one of the following:
   • A source physical file (PF-SRC) name — downloads all members in that file
   • Select one or more source members — downloads the selected members
2. Hover over Download… to reveal the submenu
3. Choose a download option:
   • Member — saves a single member via a Save-as dialog (original behavior)
   • File → Member — structured download to a subfolder named for the Source File
   • Library → File → Member — structured download to a library->file folder structure with the members stored under the file name folder.
4. For structured options, choose a base download folder on your local machine when prompted
5. Subfolders and files are created automatically

Download Options

Library → File → Member

Use this when you want the full IBM i path preserved locally.

Given IBM i source in library DEVLIB:

DEVLIB
├── QRPGLESRC
│   ├── PROGRAMA.RPGLE
│   ├── PROGRAMB.RPGLE
│   └── PROGRAMC.RPGLE
├── QCLLESRC
│   └── STARTJOB.CLLE
├── QCMDSRC
│   └── STARTJOB.CMD
└── QSQLSRC
    ├── CUSTOMERS.SQL
    └── INVENTORY.SQL

After choosing ~/myproject as the base download folder:

~/myproject/
└── DEVLIB/
    ├── QRPGLESRC/
    │   ├── PROGRAMA.RPGLE
    │   ├── PROGRAMB.RPGLE
    │   └── PROGRAMC.RPGLE
    ├── QCLLESRC/
    │   └── STARTJOB.CLLE
    ├── QCMDSRC/
    │   └── STARTJOB.CMD
    └── QSQLSRC/
        ├── CUSTOMERS.SQL
        └── INVENTORY.SQL

File → Member

Use this when want the source files to sit directly inside your project folder with their members below them — for example, downloading to a folder named Pickles that receives QRPGLESRC, QCLLESRC, etc. builds the folder structure using the source file names as subfolders.

After choosing ~/Pickles as the base download folder:

~/Pickles/
├── QRPGLESRC/
│   ├── PROGRAMA.RPGLE
│   ├── PROGRAMB.RPGLE
│   └── PROGRAMC.RPGLE
├── QCLLESRC/
│   └── STARTJOB.CLLE
├── QCMDSRC/
│   └── STARTJOB.CMD
└── QSQLSRC/
    ├── CUSTOMERS.SQL
    └── INVENTORY.SQL

Collision handling

Caution

If members from different libraries share the same FILE/MEMBER.EXT path, silently overwriting one with the other would result in data loss. Instead, those specific members automatically fall back to the full LIBRARY/FILE/MEMBER.EXT structure, and a warning notification identifies the collisions. All non-colliding members still use the flat FILE/MEMBER layout.

Comparison of Download Options

	Download → Member	Download → File→Member	Download → Library→File→Member
Single member	MEMBER.EXT	FILE/MEMBER.EXT	LIBRARY/FILE/MEMBER.EXT
Multiple members	All Members in one folder	FILE/MEMBER.EXT tree (library omitted)	Full LIBRARY/FILE/MEMBER.EXT tree
Best for	Quick one-off save	Single-library Git project setup	Multi-library or full-archive download

Notes

• The base download folder you select is remembered as the default for future downloads
• The member’s source type (aka SEU type) is used as the file extension.
• If a member’s source type is blank, the file extension is set to .MBR
• All library, file, and member names are created in uppercase
• Subfolders (for each library and file) are created automatically if they do not exist.
• Source change dates (SEU sequence/date columns) are not downloaded — the recommended approach for change management for these objects is Git

For further reading on local development and Git workflows with IBM i, see the Code for IBM i documentation .