Data formats and associated media types for OSSR
In this issue we would like to discuss and collect information about data formats in use by research infrastructures that are part of the ESCAPE project. Within WP3 (OSSR) we are building a software and services catalogue. This catalogue will include metadata about the software such that users (including non-human users such as the science analysis platforms that is being developed in WP5) can select appropriate software for their analysis. One of the pieces of metadata that has been identified as important to this context is information about the types of data the software is able to process and produce.
Within the Virtual Observatory (VO) there already is an established practice for referring to data formats. Many of the data discovery protocols used in the VO will return the type of the data in the form of a RFC 6838 Media Type (also known as a MIME type). For example FITS files will be indicated by the application/fits or image/fits MIME types. It seems logical to adopt that same approach for the software and services catalogue and we are collaborating with WP4 on establishing a standard list of MIME types for Astronomy and Astroparticle Physics. Potentially this list will be published as an IVOA note.
For this purpise we'd like to conduct a survey of data formats that are in use in our communities. For that purpose I'd like to ask you to provide the following information for each data format:
- Name of the data format
- Version information (if multiple versions exist)
- Short description of the data format
- A link to the definition of the data format (if there is one)
- What software packages use this data format as input
- What software packages use this data format as output
- The (de-facto) standard Media Type type for this data format (if there is one)
If there are multiple versions of the data format, please add a short discussion about how this affects what the software can do with the different versions.
It would be good to include this information for at least the set data formats that are relevant for the software and services that has been (or will be) contributed to the WP3 software and services catalogue as well as data formats for that that will be made available through VO protocols by your RI.