Editing FITS (File Information Tool Set)

{{Infobox_tool
|purpose=FITS allows data curators to identify, validate, and extract technical metadata for the objects in their digital repository.
|image=
|homepage=http://fitstool.org
|license=GNU Lesser General Public License
|platforms=Windows or Unix
}}

<!-- Delete the Categories that do not apply -->
[[Category:File Format Identification]]
[[Category:Validation]]
[[Category:Metadata Extraction]]


= Description =
[http://fitstool.org FITS] allows data curators to identify, validate, and extract technical metadata for the objects in their digital repository. It does this by encorporating a range of mostly third-party open source tools, normalising and consolidating their output.
====Provider====
Harvard Library

====Licensing and cost====
[http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html GNU Lesser GPL] &ndash; free.
====Development activity====
FITS 0.2.0 was first released as open source in July 2009. As of April 2014 the latest release was version 0.8, released in January 2014. The tool was created to be used in Harvard&rsquo;s Digital Repository Service, and development is active and ongoing.

====Platform and interoperability====
FITS is written in Java and is compatible with Java 1.6 or higher. It uses six external tools: [http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/external/jhove JHOVE], [http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/ Exiftool], [http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/external/metadata-extraction-tool National Library of New Zealand Metadata Extractor], [http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/external/DROID DROID], [http://web.archive.org/web/20061106114156/http://schmidt.devlib.org/ffident/index.html FFIdent], and the [http://unixhelp.ed.ac.uk/CGI/man-cgi?file File Utility]; a few Harvard Library-created tools; and many open source libraries.&nbsp;
Instructions for command line use are given for Windows and Unix.

====Functional notes====
FITS acts as a wrapper, invoking and managing the output from several other open source tools. Output from these tools are converted into a common format, compared to one another and consolidated into a single XML output file. Technical metadata is only output (and a part of the consolidation process) for tools that were able to identify the file. All other output is discarded.
====Documentation and user support====
Documentation exists in the form of a project [http://code.google.com/p/fits/w/list wiki], including information for users, installers, and developers. &nbsp;The materials are written for an IT, rather than library/archive audience.&nbsp;
The project actively uses the fits-users google group has 30 members, and is active as of January 2012. &nbsp;The FITS wiki also includes an issues tracker.
====Usability====
FITS uses a command line interface; it is designed to be integrated into other software workflows, and so is aimed at those with application design experience.
====Expertise required====
Installation and configuration require deep systems administration and application design knowledge, as well as familiarity with file format and metadata standards.
====Standards compliance====
FITS outputs in XML format.&nbsp;
====Influence and take-up====
The FITS website shows over 2000 downloads of the software. &nbsp;The tool was designed for and is in use at the Harvard Library [http://hul.harvard.edu/ois/systems/drs/ Digital Repository Service].

= User Experiences =


= Development Activity =

{{Infobox_tool_details
|ohloh_id=FITS
}}