Demystify
Description[edit]
Now known as "Demystify" (formerly 'DROID Siegfried Sqlite Analysis Engine') with thanks to Joshua Ng for the suggestion to rename it. Demystify is an engine for the analysis of DROID CSV export files, Siegfried YAML export files, and Siegfried 'DROID compatible' output. The tool has three purposes, break the exports into their components and store them within a table in a SQLite database; create additional columns to augment the output where useful; and query the SQLite database, outputting results in a readable form useful for analysis by researchers and archivists within digital preservation departments in memory institutions.
The tool provides archivist definitions for each of the sections output; these definitions are customizable. The tool also supports output of statistics about files that may require further triage or may not be appropriate for long-term preservation based on institutional rules, in the form of a blacklist. The tool also analyses file names and directory names for non-ascii characters, and also characteristics that may present problems cross-file-system based on known Microsoft rules: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365247(VS.85).aspx
The engine can be used to generate a list of file paths for files that may present digital preservation risks (Rogues) or files which on the surface i.e. via identification alone, look okay (Heroes) and these listings can be used in conjunction with rsync to isolate these sets from one-another to be more flexible to work with.
Demystify Lite[edit]
Demystify Lite provides a Pyscript/WASM implementation of Demystify's features and runs completely browser side for users with DROID or Siegfried reports that they would like to see analyzed.
User Experiences[edit]
- Blog entries from the tool author, Ross Spencer:
- [2014-06-03] Describing the creation and purpose of the tool.
- [2015-08-25] Using the output of the tool to create a digital preservation rogues gallery.
- [2016-05-23] The integration of Siegfried output for consistent and repeatable reporting.
- [2016-05-24] Creating a multi-lingual consistent, digital preservation dialect and exploring alternative methods of format identification using Siegfried's capabilities.
- [2022-05-09] Fractal in detail: What information is in a file format identification report?
Development Activity[edit]
All development activity is visible on GitHub: http://github.com/ross-spencer/demystify/commits
Release Feed[edit]
Below the last 3 release feeds:
- 2024-04-14 13:53:10
- [tag:github.com,2008:Repository/15066530/v2.0.0rc7 v2.0.0rc7]
- by ross-spencer
- 2024-03-25 20:52:06
- [tag:github.com,2008:Repository/15066530/v2.0.0rc6 v2.0.0rc6]
- by ross-spencer
- 2024-03-24 19:15:52
- [tag:github.com,2008:Repository/15066530/v2.0.0rc5 v2.0.0rc5]
- by ross-spencer
Activity Feed[edit]
Below the last 5 commits:
- 2024-04-14 13:51:43
- [tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/9060b9a424f22d1d60ad15ee0f1f7a03aa511f2a Update National Archives URI]
- by ross-spencer https://github.com/ross-spencer
- 2024-03-25 20:51:14
- [tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/edcadd0246fc17580880c6bedcda55ad065db410 Update black]
- by ross-spencer https://github.com/ross-spencer
- 2024-03-25 19:53:59
- [tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/40c5a871d14e866d55a61649930a12c3c629a9bb Remove denylist restrictions]
- by ross-spencer https://github.com/ross-spencer
- 2024-03-24 19:08:08
- [tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/fc9dcc15c2c06bccf3b25122597d6860aafa9e44 Update workflows]
- by ross-spencer https://github.com/ross-spencer
- 2024-03-24 19:06:10
- [tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/bb209003966cece80fa40f35116dab0099eaaee4 Add format type classification]
- by ross-spencer https://github.com/ross-spencer