9.8  Catalogs and XML

XML is a standard file format for exchanging structured information. It is related to HTML, the standard for webpages, and many applications including Microsoft Office are now including XML import and export.

Catalyzer uses XML as its file format, so it is simple to use the data entered in a catalog in custom applications.

The native file format of Catalyzer catalogs is .axz. This is the same as the .zip archive format, and contains two XML files: mycat.axc and mycat.axt. The .axc file contains all the records, the .axt file contains the type catalog (all the class definitions).

You can save a catalog as two separate XML files rather than in .axz format - when prompted for the filename (File>Save as), add the extension .axc (as in "mycat.axc"). This will save two XML files ("mycat.axc" and "mycat.axt" in this case).

One use of Catalyzer is as a database submission / curation tool. You can use Catalyzer to prepare and edit well structured information in a form where it can be submitted to a large database repository. Because Catalogs are easy to customise, and they are saved as XML, the integration is simple to code.