DATML is a proposed open, specimen-centred spatial context format for multimodal analytical science. It is intended to describe the analytical context of a physical specimen: coordinate systems, regions of interest, measurement locations, data layers, instrument sessions, provenance, and links to external analytical files.
DATML is intended to complement, not replace, existing analytical data formats. For example, an XPS spectrum may remain in VAMAS/ISO 14976 form, a microscopy image may remain in TIFF/OME-TIFF, and a mass spectrum may remain in an established vendor or community format, while DATML records where the measurement belongs on the specimen and how it relates to other measurements.
Peter J. Cumpson, Digital Analytical Twins: A Specimen-Centric Architecture for Self-Driving Analytical Laboratories, ChemRxiv, Version 1, 2026.
https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv.15006084/v1
Peter J. Cumpson, DATML: A Digital Analytical Twin Markup Language for Specimen-Centred Multimodal Surface Imaging and Analysis, ChemRxiv, Version 1, 2026.
https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv.15006176/v1
This repository is an early community-facing home for the DATML specification and reference tools. The initial goals are:
- maintain a versioned DATML core specification;
- maintain XML Schema definitions and validation examples;
- provide small example DATML files;
- collect reader/writer code in Python, MATLAB, Julia, JavaScript and other languages;
- develop conversion utilities to and from existing analytical formats;
- discuss extensions for uncertainty, transforms, depth-resolved volumes, provenance, and Predictive DATs.
schema/ XML Schema definitions for DATML versions
examples/ Minimal and multimodal example DATML documents
tools/ Reference validators and reader/writer utilities
converters/ Placeholder for import/export tools
spec/ Versioned written specification material
docs/ Governance, standardisation and implementation notes
paper/ Links and materials associated with the ChemRxiv paper
The proposed initial public version is DATML Core 0.1. It is intentionally small: enough to validate basic specimen metadata, coordinate systems, layers, points, regions of interest, external file references and provenance.
The DATML written specification, XML schemas, examples and documentation are released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0), unless a file states otherwise. Software is outside that grant and will use a separately selected software licence. CC BY 4.0 does not grant patent or trademark rights. See LICENSE.md and LEGAL-NOTES.md.