diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.files.ui/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/files/ui/view/SystemViewRemoteFileAdapter.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.files.ui/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/files/ui/view/SystemViewRemoteFileAdapter.java
index 4ea3a678f8f..de0cca9142a 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.files.ui/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/files/ui/view/SystemViewRemoteFileAdapter.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.files.ui/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/files/ui/view/SystemViewRemoteFileAdapter.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
  * Kevin Doyle 		(IBM)		 - [204810] Saving file in Eclipse does not update remote file
  * David McKnight   (IBM)        - [207178] changing list APIs for file service and subsystems
  * Kevin Doyle      (IBM)		 - [186125] Changing encoding of a file is not reflected when it was opened before
+ * David McKnight   (IBM)        - [208803] add exists() method
  ********************************************************************************/
 
 package org.eclipse.rse.internal.files.ui.view;
@@ -519,6 +520,26 @@ public class SystemViewRemoteFileAdapter
 		return getType(element) + ": " + getAbsoluteName(element); //$NON-NLS-1$
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Returns whether the specified element is represented as existing.  Note that
+	 * it's possible that the represented element will been seen to exist when on
+	 * a remote host it may not - that is because this call does not query the host.
+	 * Returns whether the remote file representation exists.
+	 * 
+	 * @param element the element to check
+	 * @return true if the element exists
+	 *
+	 */
+	public boolean exists(Object element)
+	{
+		IRemoteFile file = (IRemoteFile) element;
+		if (file != null)
+		{
+			return file.exists();
+		}
+		return false;
+	}
+	
 	/**
 	 * Return the parent of this object
 	 */
diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/view/AbstractSystemViewAdapter.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/view/AbstractSystemViewAdapter.java
index c418e98c995..8d5e0cf3287 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/view/AbstractSystemViewAdapter.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/view/AbstractSystemViewAdapter.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
  * Martin Oberhuber (Wind River) - [189163] Update IActionFilter constants from subsystemFactory to subsystemConfiguration
  * Tobias Schwarz   (Wind River) - [173267] "empty list" should not be displayed 
  * Martin Oberhuber (Wind River) - [190271] Move ISystemViewInputProvider to Core
+ * David McKnight   (IBM)        - [208803] add exists() method
  ********************************************************************************/
 
 package org.eclipse.rse.ui.view;
@@ -471,6 +472,23 @@ public abstract class AbstractSystemViewAdapter implements ISystemViewElementAda
 		return getType(element) + ": " + getName(element); //$NON-NLS-1$
 	}
 		
+	/**
+	 * Returns whether the specified element is represented as existing.  Note that
+	 * it's possible that the represented element will been seen to exist when on
+	 * a remote host it may not - that is because this call does not query the host.
+	 * By default, this method returns true - override this method to customize the
+	 * behavior
+	 * 
+	 * @param element the element to check
+	 * @return true if the element exists
+	 *
+	 */
+	public boolean exists(Object element)
+	{
+		return true;
+	}
+	
+	
 	/**
      * <i><b>Abstract</b>. Must be overridden by subclasses.</i><br>
 	 * Return the parent of this object. This is required by eclipse UI adapters, but
diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/view/ISystemViewElementAdapter.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/view/ISystemViewElementAdapter.java
index 8b16197b276..67daf9fea1c 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/view/ISystemViewElementAdapter.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.ui/UI/org/eclipse/rse/ui/view/ISystemViewElementAdapter.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
  * Contributors:
  * Martin Oberhuber (Wind River) - [186128] Move IProgressMonitor last in all API
  * Martin Oberhuber (Wind River) - [190271] Move ISystemViewInputProvider to Core
+ * David McKnight   (IBM)        - [208803] add exists() method
  ********************************************************************************/
 
 package org.eclipse.rse.ui.view;
@@ -173,11 +174,25 @@ public interface ISystemViewElementAdapter extends IPropertySource, ISystemDragD
 	 * Return the string to display in the status line when the given object is selected
 	 */
 	public String getStatusLineText(Object element);
+	
+	
+	/**
+	 * Returns whether the specified element is represented as existing.  Note that
+	 * it's possible that the represented element will been seen to exist when on
+	 * a remote host it may not - that is because this call does not query the host.
+	 * 
+	 * @param element the element to check
+	 * @return true if the element exists
+	 */
+	public boolean exists(Object element);
+	
 	/**
 	 * Return the parent of this object
 	 */
 	public Object getParent(Object element);
 	
+
+	
 	/**
 	 * Return the children of this model object.
 	 *