KFB Inspector

A modern desktop application built with Tauri (Rust + React + TypeScript) for viewing and inspecting KFB (KFBIO) microscopy files. Designed to handle large files (1GB+) efficiently with native performance.

Features

🗂️ Structured File Navigation

• Hierarchical Tree View: Browse KFB file structure with expandable/collapsible nodes
• Smart Icons: Visual indicators for different data types (folders, images, tiles, errors)
• Quick Selection: Click any node to view its detailed information

🔍 Comprehensive Content Inspection

• File Header Analysis: Complete metadata including dimensions, tile count, zoom levels
• Associated Images: View macro, label, and preview image information
• Tile Organization: Browse tiles organized by zoom level with detailed properties
• Raw Data Access: Hex dump viewer for low-level data inspection

🎨 Modern UI/UX

• Resizable Panels: Drag to adjust sidebar and content area sizes
• Dark/Light Theme Support: Modern shadcn/ui components with Tailwind CSS v4
• Drag & Drop: Simply drag KFB files into the application
• Responsive Design: Clean, professional interface optimized for desktop use

⚡ High Performance

• Rust Backend: Native speed for parsing large binary files
• Memory Mapping: Efficient handling of GB-sized files without loading entirely into RAM
• Lazy Loading: Load data on-demand for optimal performance
• TypeScript Frontend: Type-safe React components for reliable UI

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18 or later)
• Rust (latest stable)

Quick Start

1. Clone the repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd kfb-inspector

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Run in development mode

   npm run tauri dev

4. Build for production

   npm run tauri build

Usage

Opening Files

• File Menu: Click "Open KFB File" button in the toolbar
• Drag & Drop: Drag any .kfb file into the application window
• File Validation: Automatic validation ensures only valid KFB files are processed

Navigation

• File Tree: Left sidebar shows the complete file structure
• Expandable Nodes: Click arrows or folder icons to expand/collapse sections
• Content Viewer: Right panel displays detailed information for selected nodes
• Resizable Layout: Drag the separator to adjust panel sizes

Data Inspection

• Header Information: View file metadata, dimensions, and scan parameters
• Associated Images: Inspect macro, label, and preview images with size and offset info
• Tile Analysis: Browse tiles by zoom level with position and size details
• Hex Dump: Raw binary data viewer for low-level file analysis

KFB File Format

The application supports the KFBIO file format commonly used in digital microscopy:

• Magic Number: KFB identifier at offset 4
• Multi-level Structure: Pyramid of tiles at different zoom levels
• JPEG Compression: Tiles are JPEG-compressed for efficient storage
• Associated Images: Macro, label, and preview images for navigation
• Binary Format: Little-endian binary structure with specific offsets

Architecture

Backend (Rust)

• src-tauri/src/main.rs: Main application entry point
• src-tauri/src/kfb.rs: KFB file parser implementation
• src-tauri/src/commands.rs: Tauri command handlers for frontend communication

Frontend (React + TypeScript)

• src/App.tsx: Main application component with file handling
• src/components/FileTree.tsx: Tree view component for file structure
• src/components/ContentViewer.tsx: Content display component
• src/components/ui/: shadcn/ui component library

Key Technologies

• Tauri: Cross-platform desktop app framework
• Memory Mapping: Efficient large file handling with memmap2
• Tailwind CSS v4: Modern utility-first CSS framework
• shadcn/ui: High-quality React component library
• Lucide React: Beautiful icon system

File Support

• Format: KFB (KFBIO) files with .kfb extension
• Size: Optimized for large files (1GB+)
• Compression: JPEG-compressed tiles
• Structure: Multi-level tile pyramids with associated images

Development

Project Structure

kfb-inspector/
├── src-tauri/          # Rust backend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── main.rs     # Main entry point
│   │   ├── kfb.rs      # KFB parser
│   │   └── commands.rs # Tauri commands
│   └── Cargo.toml      # Rust dependencies
├── src/                # React frontend
│   ├── components/     # React components
│   ├── lib/           # Utility functions
│   └── types.ts       # TypeScript definitions
├── package.json        # Node.js dependencies
└── tailwind.config.js  # Tailwind CSS configuration

Development Commands

npm run dev          # Start development server
npm run build        # Build frontend
npm run tauri dev    # Run Tauri development mode
npm run tauri build  # Build production app

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built with Tauri framework
• UI components from shadcn/ui
• Icons from Lucide
• Inspired by the OpenSlide project's KFB format specification