Format

A few general remarks regarding the format of the info files.

• Machine readable and human readable
• Pure text (ASCII)
• Uniquely identifiable
  • Identifier string in the first or second line of the file

For those who like to see something, rather than reading (dull and) lengthly description: an example can be found further below.

Following a general description of the file format.

• Format
  • The file format is ASCII (7-bit)
  • Restriction to 7 bit ASCII character table guarantees interoperability between different operating systems.
  • Therefore: No umlauts or other special characters.
• File name and extension
  • The file extension is “.info”.
  • The filename is identical with the file basename of the corresponding data file.¹⁾
• The first line of the file consists of an identifier string.
  • Makes it possible to uniquely identify the file format during parsing.
  • Separated by an empty line from the remaining file.
  • Should contain a version number (of the format).
• Field names
  • Field names may contain spaces, but no special characters and no colons²⁾.
  • Field names must start with a character (no numerical!).
  • Every field name ends with a colon.
  • Field names shall not contain/repeat the block name.³⁾
• Values
  • Values always follow a field name
  • Within a block, all values get intended that way that they are left-aligned. Therefore, the longest field name defines the indentation.
  • Values may contain special characters⁴⁾ and colons.
  • NEW Values may span several lines. In this case, each new line needs to start with a whitespace character (such as space or tab).
• Use of colons
  • Colons are used to separate field names and values
  • At all other places (e.g., after a block heading) no colon is allowed. Only exception are values.
  • Colons are used internally during parsing to separate field names and values (in Matlab: regexp with option split).
• The info file is divided into several blocks.
  • Blocks are introduced by block names in capital letters.
• All field names and descriptions within the file should be in English to guarantee international usability.
• Blocks and fields may be optional, as long as there are certain fields (acting as “switches”) that can be used while parsing to determine whether these blocks/fields exist in the file.
  • Is no value available for a field, but removing the field seems not reasonable⁵⁾, the value is “N/A”.
• About the blocks:
  • Each block starts with a heading (block name) in capital letters.
  • Each block gets separated from the previous part of the file by an empty line.
  • Blocks contain key-value pairs consisting of a field name, followed by its respective value.