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Contributors: Matthew B. Jones ([email protected]), Chad Berkley ([email protected]), Jivka Bojilova ([email protected]), Dan Higgins ([email protected]), Chris Jones ([email protected]), Corinna Gries ([email protected]), Peter McCartney ([email protected]), James Brunt ([email protected]), David Blankman ([email protected]), Owen Eddins ([email protected]), Mark Schildhauer ([email protected]), John Harris ([email protected]), Matthew Brooke ([email protected]), Scott Chapal ([email protected]), Tim Bergsma ([email protected]), Ken Ramsey ([email protected]), Saurabh Garg ([email protected]), Margaret O'Brien ([email protected]), Mark Servilla ([email protected]), James Brunt ([email protected])
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Version: 2.1.1
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Feedback: [email protected]
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Bug reports: http://github.com/NCEAS/eml/issues
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Source code: http://github.com/NCEAS/eml
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Validation service: https://knb.ecoinformatics.org/emlparser/
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Slack Discussion channel: #eml on http://slack.nceas.ucsb.edu
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EML 2.1.1 Specification
- Read it online
- Download EML - The download consists of the EML modules, described in the XML Schema language. In addition, the full documentation on the modules is provided in HTML format.
The Ecological Metadata Language consists of a number of modules that define an XML markup syntax for ecologically relevant metadata. It was originally based on work done by the ESA Committee on the Future of Long-Term Ecological Data and on a related paper on ecological metadata by Michener et al. (see Michener, William K., et al., 1997. Ecological Applications, "Nongeospatial metadata for the ecological sciences" Vol 7(1). pp. 330-342.). Version 1.4 follows that paper closely in its content implementation, but Version 2 has been modified substantially after experience using the specification and from feedback from the ecological community.
This release represents the consensus view of a large number of knowledgeable scientists and data managers on what metadata are relevant to ecological data and how best to represent it. Of course, many might differ in opinion about specific decisions made during the development of EML; we would like to encourage users to faithfully use the specification in the spirit of community building. It is better if we all use a metadata language that covers most of our needs than to modify it and use one that is perfect but not shared with anybody.
It is notable that some of the rules regarding EML that are important are expressed only in the EML specification, not in the XML Schema files. This is because XML Schema was not able to express some of the constraints that we felt were important to creating a coherent metadata document, particularly with respect to identifiers and references to identifiers. Thus, we have included a EML Validity Parser. It checks both EML rules and the schema rules to be sure an XML document is a valid EML document. It is included with the release, and provided as an online service. See docs/index.html.
Please see the docs/index.html directory for a a list of the relevant documents pertaining to EML. In particular, this release ships with a full version of the EML Specification, which is the definitive document explaining the rules associated with the Ecological Metadata Language.
The files in this directory include a "docs" directory that contains the EML Specification and all documentation for the modules, and an XML Schema document for each of the modules that make up EML. Also included is a schema for supporting documentation, and an instance document defining standard attribute units for EML. The "lib/sample/eml-sample.xml" file is a sample document illustrating the use of EML. The "test" directory contains a number of sample instance documents used for testing the schemas, and an application for checking document validity under JUnit (see http://junit.org).
- (see also http://github.com/NCEAS/eml/issues)
EML 2.1.1 introduces internationalization capabilities that can be used in most text-based elements. Version 2.1.1 remains backward-compatible with the previous 2.1.0 release. Authors can safely upgrade existing 2.1.0 documents to 2.1.1 without altering any content, though adding additional language translations is encouraged.
By allowing mixed element content, nested translation elements can be included without altering or introducing ambiguity with respect to EML element cardinality. Translation elements use standard xml:lang attributes to specify the language used for their content. Translation elements can be nested such that child elements may inherit or override the language used by their ancestors. The top-level EML element may include an xml:lang attribute which will apply to every element in the document unless a child element includes a different xml:lang attribute to override the document default.
Multi-lingual authors of EML should carefully consider their primary target audience when deciding the default document language. Early adopters should be aware search tools like Metacat will require custom configuration in order to search arbitrarily nested translations.
The internationalization feature allows authors to place any language in tags nested within most EML text fields. The xml:lang attribute should be used to explicitly declare the language used.
Additional documentation and examples are available in the EML specification. The i18nNonEmptyStringType is used for simple text, while i18nString for more structured text elements.
- [76](https://github.com/NCEAS/eml/issues/76): internationalization needed in EML
This release addresses bugs which caused the schema to be invalid with respect to the W3C specifications using modern validators (e.g., http://www.w3.org/2001/03/webdata/xsv). Although the changes were minor, one was incompatible with 2.0 releases, which necessitated the version number "2.1". In the 2.0 series, the content model for additionalMetadata included an element whose cardinality was 0..many, alongside xs:any. This construct is non-deterministic, and so a child element was added to the additionalMetadata section to contain the xs:any content. Additionally, several elements of txt:TypeText required additional definition so that mixed content could be accommodated. These errors were not apparent with validation software available in 2004-2005, but were brought to light more recently. Several small changes were made to the enumeration list and unitTypes for standard units and stmml descriptions of customUnits. Two elements in the literature schema were allowed to be optional so that articles-in-press could be described. The named type for element gRing was changed to GRingType.
EML makes use of the STMML schema (stmml.xsd) for describing custom units and describing its included list of standardUnits (unitList). The STMML schema was also found to be non-deterministic, and the most reasonable fix for this bug was not compatible with earlier versions. This error was NOT related to elements used by EML (unitList or unitType). However, given that authors of EML instance documents may have made use of other parts of stmml.xsd, it was decided to the advance the namespace used for stmml-related files to "stmml-1.1", in keeping with the pattern of version naming in EML. The stmml authors have been contacted.
- Schema changes:
- 1132: eml.xsd, physical.xsd: fix access rule ambiguities
- 2054: eml.xsd: added the tag to additionalMetadata
- 1154: resource.xsd: required element offline has no required children
- 3480: resource.xsd, physical.xsd: nearly duplicate complexTypes, DistributionType and PhysicalDistributionType
- 3165: resource.xsd: provide a place for a url description
- 3227: coverage.xsd: gRing was declared as GRingPointType, is now GRingType
- 1019: coverage.xsd: altitudeUnits should use eml-unitDictionary
- 3500: coverage.xsd: restrict boundingCoordinates to realistic lat/lon ranges
- 1152: attribute.xsd: dateTime elements are named inconsistently; standarized on dateTime
- 2272: attribute.xsd: base types in BoundsGroup changed to xs:float
- 3051: attribute.xsd: missing units were added to enumeration list to match eml-unitDitionary
- 2568: attribute.xsd, entity.xsd: inconsistent naming of methods elements, standardized to
- 2703: text.xsd: refined element declarations in txt:TextType for para, section; added ulink, citetitle
- 3163: literature.xsd: cardinality of volume and pageRange is now 0..1
- 3164: literature.xsd: literature needs a contact tree
- 3445: stmml.xsd: non-deterministic
- 2083: stmml.xsd: dimension 'current' was wrongly entered as 'charge'
- Parser :
- 3232: EML parser should use full-schema-checking
- 3836: runEMLParser script should include sax-validate
- Stylesheets:
- 3508: create a stylesheet for EML2.0.x to EML 2.1.0
- 3590: eml-documentation stylesheet problem with derived content.
- 2048: param attributeindex defined twice in eml-settings.xsl
- 2085: Access control rules adapted for 2.0.1 and 2.1 (currently not shown)
- 2147: EML Stylesheet problem with web address URL's
- 2226: EML2 style sheet double the number of complex delimited f...
- 3492: the word 'unit' should be pluralized by default
- 249: Update XSLT stylesheets for EML 2.0 modules
- 939: spelling errors for 'its' in index
- 960: parser not correctly parsing tag in additiona...
- 1008: inline element doesn't support character child
- 1017: documentation error in eml-methods
- 1031: enumeratedDomain doesn't define value order for ordinals
- 1035: Technical documentation on eml-methods has an error
- 1124: update precision field definition and cardinality
- 1129: Change temporalCoverage calendarDate type
- 1132: fix access control rule ambiguities
- 1136: kelvin conversion incorrect in unit dictionary
- 1149: BoundsGroup bounds min & max have incorrect cardinality
- 1150: documentation for KeyTypeCode is wrong
- 1151: misspelled element name
- 1153: dateTimeDomain element should be optional
- 1155: Documentation incorrect for dateTimeDomainType bounds
- 1195: tracking bug for 2.0.1 release
- 1233: dateTime formatString Documentation contains incorrect ex...
- 1529: no tag to specify how to handle mutltiple, repeated delimimeters
- 1652: eml-constraint documentation error
- 670: DateTimeDomain id/reference validation
- 924: make date time its own measurement scale
- 661: spell check eml-attribute.xsd and synchronize with unitDi
- 918: example tag in eml:documentation
- 471: eml spec overview document
- 624: eml-methods/methodsType needs clarification on choice/seq...
- 627: links broken in EML FAQ
- 629: unit conversion coefficients need checking
- 637: attributeDomain should be required
- 638: request for id/ref in attributeDomain
- 654: scope of the unit element
- 655: need better model for numeric domains for attributes
- 625: Cardinality regarding eml-methods should be corrected in ...
- 626: ProcedureStepType schema needs revision to protect sequen...
- 628: eml-physical has lit: rather than cit: references
- 632: broken link in faq
- 634: Documentation of reference elements in the schemas
- 656: physical should be repeatable
- 568: accommodate of stateful connection information
- 586: resolve validation problem with missing keys
- 588: Remove lineage tags in documentation stylesheets
- 589: eml-coverage: convert element references to types
- 592: fix validation error with xs:anyType
- 594: change cardinality for designDescription and studyAreaDes...
- 596: Proposal: make attribute optional in OtherEntityType.
- 597: In eml-dataTable caseSensitive and orientation are modele...
- 598: literature namespace references are inconsistent
- 599: storageType is repeatable in eml-attribute
- 600: eml-storedProcedure - problems & proposal
- 601: element names in spatial modules do not follow guidelines
- 602: eml-physical fixed textFormat to allow mixed fixed/delimited
- 608: release preparation tasks for EML2.0.0rc2
- 622: redundancy in eml-physical/binaryRaster
- 471: created an EML specification overview document
- 495: created FAQ for EML
- 588: removed lineage tags from documentation stylesheet
- 484: eml-attribute changes to unit and attributeDomain
- 579: fixed eml-docbook validation problems
- 491: eml-coverage changed to correctly import types and to fix singleDateTime model
- 485: eml-physical changed to fix fixed ascii descriptors and distribution
- 477: complexTypes imports changed to consistent model
- 486: fixed spelling errors in eml-constraint
- 492: eml-literature changed for EndNote consistency
- 496: copyright updated throughout
- 557: textual elements changed to use docbook subset define in eml-text.xsd
- 563: changed id types from xs:ID to xs:string to allow numeric ids
- 482: eml-dataset changed to include method element
- 489: eml-protocol completely revised based on feedback, eml-method.xsd created
- 544: eml-attribute storageType and attributeDomain documentation clarified
- 556: format of eml namespaces changed to include ecoinformatics.org
- 539: added additionalInfo and alternateIdentifier to eml-dataTable.xsd
- 568: redesigned DistributionType to allow richer connection descriptions
- 566: changed imports in eml-resource to import resource types not elements
- 567: created eml sample documents and XML validation framework using ant/junit
- Changed packaging concept to use internal id and references instead of triples
- Review and revised all modules according to agreed upon changes from the April, 2002 EML meeting at Sevilleta Field Station
- Fixed illegal declaration of type and extension in eml-entity
- Updated all PNG image files
- Added a 'style' subdirectory with a style sheet for most modules . to translate the metadata to HTML
- Changed names of coverage elements to be human readable
- Updated the namespaces to reflect the current version number of EML
- Added an eml-data module for the in-lining of data.
- Added the eml module for creating packages all in one file. It is a single node with a model of ANY so any of the eml modules can be put into it.
- Numerous bug fixes (see bugzilla.ecoinformatics.org)
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