Re: Data versus data format?

From: David Carlisle <d.p.carlisle@gmail.com>
To: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2019 18:58:00 +0000

Play the video

On Tue, 5 Nov 2019 at 18:25, Costello, Roger L. <costello@mitre.org> wrote:

Hi Folks,

I seek your thoughts on the difference (if any) between data and data formats.

Here’s how I see it. I could be wrong.

Data and data formats are different. I believe that data formats is a subset of data:

I think of data formats as a format that has been standardized, either by a standards organization (W3C, ISO, IETF, etc.) or by a corporation. Data, on the other hand, is any format: single-time-use formats, quickly cobbled together formats, 1-1 data exchange formats between a small group, and also standardized formats.

Do you agree that data is a broader, more general concept than data format?

I would not use the terms in that way at all.

"data" is the information content, a list of numbers representing prices, a list of strings representing names, or whatever.

You can't standardise "data" as it is the specific data of some instance of whatever is under consideration.

A "data format" is the format the data is stored in, could be an excel spreadsheet, or a csv file or some XML document valid to a specified schema or...

The data is "just" information so the person receiving the doesn't need prior knowledge of it.

The data format must be understood by the sender and the receiver to understand the data, so standardising the format is useful.

David

/Roger

References:
- Data versus data format?
  - From: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>

[Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index]

PURCHASE STYLUS STUDIO ONLINE TODAY!

Purchasing Stylus Studio from our online shop is Easy, Secure and Value Priced!

Download The World's Best XML IDE!

Accelerate XML development with our award-winning XML IDE - Download a free trial today!

Subscribe in XML format

RSS 2.0
Atom 0.3

Stylus Studio has published XML-DEV in RSS and ATOM formats, enabling users to easily subcribe to the list from their preferred news reader application.

Stylus Studio Sponsored Links are added links designed to provide related and additional information to the visitors of this website. they were not included by the author in the initial post. To view the content without the Sponsor Links please click here.

XML Editor - Download a 15 Day Free Trial Now >

See What's New in Stylus Studio >

Buy Stylus Studio - XML Editor - Now >