Latest revision as of 14:04, 17 August 2021

Description

	DROID (Digital Record Object Identification) is a software tool developed to perform automated batch identification of file formats.
Homepage:	http://digital-preservation.github.io/droid/
License:	BSD License
Platforms:	Java 6 Standard Edition
Input Formats:	PREMIS (Preservation Metadata Implementation Strategies)
Function:	File Format Identification,Metadata Extraction
Appears in COW:	Creating a SIP from content downloaded from OneDrive (or other Cloud based source), Digital archiving workflow (high-level), Ingest and AIP creation, LAC Pre-Ingest Workflow, Workflow for ingesting digitized books into a digital archive

DROID (Digital Record Object Identification) is a software tool developed to perform automated batch identification of file formats. DROID is designed to meet the fundamental requirement of any digital repository to be able to identify the precise format of all stored digital objects, and to link that identification to a central registry of technical information about that format and its dependencies.

DROID uses the PRONOM signature files to perform format identification. Like PRONOM, it was developed by the National Archives of the UK. Written in Java, XML.

PRONOM

The format information held in PRONOM is what powers DROID (Digital Record Object Identification). Both are maintained by the UK's National Archives.

DROID downloads the latest signature files from PRONOM, and those are used to drive the identification process. See the PRONOM release notes.

A number of other tools and registries have been based around the PRONOM data. These include:

Nanite and Fido identification tools
Siegfried identification tool

Although the information and website are made freely available under the Open Government License, the underlying software engine that powers PRONOM is proprietary.

The PRONOM Web API

The website is oriented towards manual browsing, but note that each PRONOM registry entry as a permalink, like this:

   http://apps.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pronom/fmt/579

and furthermore, by appending '.xml' to the URL for any entry, the data can be recovered as XML:

   http://apps.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pronom/fmt/579.xml

User Experiences

Tool demo with videos in the DPC Handbook
Digital Asset Assessment Tool - Assessment of file format testing tools.
Comparing how Apache Tika and DROID perform HTML identification: How much of the UK's HTML is valid?
An Analysis Engine for the DROID CSV Export
KOST-CECO: Used in KOST-Val for the file format identification. For performance and granularity reasons an own SignatureFile is used instead of the official PRONOM registry.
FITS (File Information Tool Set): Used in FITS

Development Activity

All development activity is visible on GitHub: http://github.com/digital-preservation/droid/commits

Release Feed

Below the last 3 release feeds:

2025-11-05 17:31:47: [tag:github.com,2008:Repository/4737996/6.9.10 Release 6.9.10]; by github-actions[bot]
2025-11-05 15:51:35: [tag:github.com,2008:Repository/4737996/droid-6.9.10 droid-6.9.10]; by tna-da-bot
2025-10-16 16:27:01: [tag:github.com,2008:Repository/4737996/6.9.9 Release 6.9.9]; by github-actions[bot]

Activity Feed

Below the last 5 commits: Failed to load RSS feed from https://github.com/digital-preservation/droid/commits/master.atom: There was a problem during the HTTP request: 404 Not Found

About Formats

DROID do only read the format itself, not the spesification as such

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Infobox_tool
+{{Infobox tool
 |purpose=DROID (Digital Record Object Identification) is a software tool developed to perform automated batch identification of file formats.
-|image=
 |homepage=http://digital-preservation.github.io/droid/
 |license=BSD License
 |platforms=Java 6 Standard Edition
+|formats_in=PREMIS (Preservation Metadata Implementation Strategies)
+|function=File Format Identification, Metadata Extraction
 }}
+{{Infobox tool details
+|ohloh_id=droid
+}}
+= Description =
+DROID (Digital Record Object Identification) is a software tool developed to perform automated batch identification of file formats. DROID is designed to meet the fundamental requirement of any digital repository to be able to identify the precise format of all stored digital objects, and to link that identification to a central registry of technical information about that format and its dependencies.
+DROID uses the PRONOM [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/aboutapps/pronom/droid-signature-files.htm signature files] to perform format identification. Like PRONOM, it was [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/manage-information/policy-process/digital-continuity/file-profiling-tool-droid/ developed by the National Archives of the UK]. Written in Java, XML.
+=== PRONOM ===
+The format information held in PRONOM is what powers [[DROID (Digital Record Object Identification)]]. Both are maintained by the [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ UK's National Archives].
+DROID downloads the latest [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/aboutapps/pronom/droid-signature-files.htm signature files] from PRONOM, and those are used to drive the identification process. See the [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/aboutapps/pronom/release-notes.xml PRONOM release notes].
+A number of other tools and registries have been based around the PRONOM data. These include:
+* [[Nanite]] and [[Fido]] identification tools
+* [[Siegfried]] identification tool
-<!-- Delete the Categories that do not apply -->
+Although the information and website are made freely available under the Open Government License, the underlying software engine that powers PRONOM is proprietary.
-[[Category:File Format Identification]]
-[[Category:Metadata Extraction]]
+===== The PRONOM Web API =====
+The website is oriented towards manual browsing, but note that each PRONOM registry entry as a permalink, like this:
+    http://apps.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pronom/fmt/579
-= Description =
+and furthermore, by appending '.xml' to the URL for any entry, the data can be recovered as XML:
-DROID (Digital Record Object Identification) is a software tool developed to perform automated batch identification of file formats. DROID is designed to meet the fundamental requirement of any digital repository to be able to identify the precise format of all stored digital objects, and to link that identification to a central registry of technical information about that format and its dependencies. Developed by NARA. Written in Java, XML.
+    http://apps.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pronom/fmt/579.xml
 = User Experiences =
+* [https://www.dpconline.org/handbook/tool-demos/droid-demo Tool demo with videos] in the [https://www.dpconline.org/handbook DPC Handbook]
 * [http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/preservation/daat_file_format_tools_report.pdf Digital Asset Assessment Tool - Assessment of file format testing tools].
 * Comparing how [[Apache Tika]] and DROID perform HTML identification: [http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/webarchive/2014/07/how-much-of-the-uk-html-is-valid.html How much of the UK's HTML is valid?]
+* [http://openplanetsfoundation.org/blogs/2014-06-03-analysis-engine-droid-csv-export An Analysis Engine for the DROID CSV Export]
+* '''KOST-CECO:''' Used in [[KOST-Val]] for the file format identification. For performance and granularity reasons an own SignatureFile is used instead of the official PRONOM registry.
+* '''FITS (File Information Tool Set):''' Used in [[FITS (File Information Tool Set)|FITS]]
+= Development Activity =
+All development activity is visible on GitHub: http://github.com/digital-preservation/droid/commits
+=== Release Feed ===
+Below the last 3 release feeds:
+<rss max=3>https://github.com/digital-preservation/droid/releases.atom</rss>
+=== Activity Feed ===
+Below the last 5 commits:
+<rss max=5>https://github.com/digital-preservation/droid/commits/master.atom</rss>
-= Development Activity =
-{{Infobox_tool_details
+=== About Formats ===
-|ohloh_id=droid
+DROID do only read the format itself, not the spesification as such
-}}

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