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Machine-Readable Data - Wikipedia

Machine-readable data is data that is structured in a format that can be processed by a computer without human intervention, such as CSV, XML, and JSON files. The United States OPEN Government Data Act defines machine-readable data as data that can be easily processed by a computer while maintaining its semantic meaning. Common examples of machine-readable data include structured data formats intended for computer processing as well as human-readable formats that are marked up for machine readability through methods such as microformats or RDFa.

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162 views8 pages

Machine-Readable Data - Wikipedia

Machine-readable data is data that is structured in a format that can be processed by a computer without human intervention, such as CSV, XML, and JSON files. The United States OPEN Government Data Act defines machine-readable data as data that can be easily processed by a computer while maintaining its semantic meaning. Common examples of machine-readable data include structured data formats intended for computer processing as well as human-readable formats that are marked up for machine readability through methods such as microformats or RDFa.

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Machine-readable

data

Machine-readable data, or computer-


readable data, is data in a format that can
be processed by a computer. Machine-
readable data must be structured data.[1]

In the United States, the OPEN


Government Data Act of 14 January 2019
defines machine-readable data as "data in
a format that can be easily processed by a
computer without human intervention
while ensuring no semantic meaning is
lost." The law directs U.S. federal agencies
to publish public data in such manner,[2]
ensuring that "any public data asset of the
agency is machine-readable".[3]

Machine-readable data may be classified


in two groups: human-readable data that is
marked up so that it can also be read by
machines (e.g. microformats, RDFa,
HTML), and data file formats intended
principally for processing by machines
(CSV, RDF, XML, JSON). These formats are
only machine readable if the data
contained within them is formally
structured; exporting a CSV file from a
badly structured spreadsheet does not
meet the definition.

Machine readable is not synonymous with


digitally accessible. A digitally accessible
document may be online, making it easier
for humans to access via computers, but
its content is much harder to extract,
transform, and process via computer
programming logic if it is not machine-
readable.[4]

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is


designed to be both human- and machine-
readable, and Extensible Stylesheet
Language Transformation (XSLT) is used
to improve presentation of the data for
human readability. For example, XSLT can
be used to automatically render XML in
Portable Document Format (PDF).
Machine-readable data can be
automatically transformed for human-
readability but, generally speaking, the
reverse is not true.

For purposes of implementation of the


Government Performance and Results Act
(GPRA) Modernization Act, the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) defines
"machine readable format" as follows:
"Format in a standard computer language
(not English text) that can be read
automatically by a web browser or
computer system. (e.g.; xml). Traditional
word processing documents and portable
document format (PDF) files are easily
read by humans but typically are difficult
for machines to interpret. Other formats
such as extensible markup language
(XML), (JSON), or spreadsheets with
header columns that can be exported as
comma separated values (CSV) are
machine readable formats. As HTML is a
structural markup language, discreetly
labeling parts of the document, computers
are able to gather document components
to assemble tables of contents, outlines,
literature search bibliographies, etc. It is
possible to make traditional word
processing documents and other formats
machine readable but the documents
must include enhanced structural
elements."[5]

See also
Open data
Linked data
Machine-Readable Documents
Human-readable medium

References
1. "Machine readable" .
opendatahandbook.org. Retrieved
2019-07-22.
2. "HR4174" . stratml.us.
3. "HR4174" . stratml.us.
4. "A Primer on Machine Readability for
Online Documents and Data" .
Data.gov. 2012-09-24. Retrieved
2015-02-27.
5. OMB Circular A-11, Part 6 Archived
2020-04-22 at the Wayback Machine,
Preparation, Submission, and
Execution of the Budget
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