Technical Specification

A very high level start to an XOMGL (eXtensible Open Municipal Geodata Language - XML) technical specification to get the ball rolling. Can also be output in JSON and CSV formats.

Why Not Use...?

So why not just use an existing standard format? Well, as far as we know, there is not a format that is made for this purpose. For example, you could use KML or GeoRSS, but most government data does not have Latitude and Longitude, which is an essential part of those formats. KML is more suited to the final output of the data, with styles included, not really for data transfer and export from city databases.

Wikipedia

XOMGL Wikipedia Article

Empty XOMGL

All possible fields with comments
View XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<dataset name=""> <!-- * name:string - name of the dataset  -->
	<metadata> <!-- * metadata about the dataset -->
		<sourcename><!-- * string: name of the source of the data --></sourcename> 
		<sourceurl><!-- string: full path to the page that has the source data --></sourceurl> 
		<sourcecity><!-- string: name of the originating city --></sourcecity> 
		<sourcestateid><!-- int: id of the originating state --></sourcestateid> 
		<sourcecountryid><!-- int: id of the originating country  --></sourcecountryid> 
		<description><!-- string: text description of source of the data --></description> 
		<updatefrequency><!-- string: frequency of data updates, daily, monthly, weekly, etc --></updatefrequency> 
		<lastupdated><!-- datetime: stamp of last update to this dataset --></lastupdated> 
		<startdatetime><!-- datetime: earliest date of data coverage  --></startdatetime> 
		<enddatetime><!-- datetime: latest date of data coverage  --></enddatetime> 
	</metadata>
	<locationdata> <!-- * location based information -->
		<centercity><!-- string: name of the city of the data center --></centercity>
		<centerstateid><!-- int: id of the state of the data center --></centerstateid>
		<centercountryid><!-- int: id of the country of the data center --></centercountryid>
		<centerlatitude><!-- float: latitude of center --></centerlatitude>
		<centerlongitude><!-- float: longitude of center --></centerlongitude>
		<coveragecity><!-- string: city of the dataset coverage area. Leave out if coverage area is greater --></coveragecity>
		<coveragestateid><!-- int: id of the state of the dataset coverage area. Leave out if coverage area is greater --></coveragestateid>
		<coveragecountryid><!-- * int: id of the country of the dataset coverage area. --></coveragecountryid>
		<minlatitude><!-- float: based on data coverage area --></minlatitude>
		<maxlatitude><!-- float: based on data coverage area --></maxlatitude>
		<minlongitude><!-- float: based on data coverage area --></minlongitude>
		<maxlongitude><!-- float: based on data coverage area --></maxlongitude>
	</locationdata>
	<itemdata> <!-- data concerning all items -->
		<externalurl><!-- full path to more info with [ExternalID] in place of item->id in a url --></externalurl>
	</itemdata>
	<item> <!-- * one item of data. there can be many of these -->
		<id><!-- * string: unique id of this item based on internal system id. used for updating data later --></id>
		<name><!-- * string: name of the item --></name>
		<description><!-- string: html formatted or plain text full description of item --></description>
		<categories> <!-- one or more categories the item can be classified as. id links to other xml formatted data that shows category name-->
			<categoryid><!-- int: id of categorization of item.  --></categoryid>
		</categories>
		<!-- * Note: one of the following must be provided: (location) or (address, city, state) or (latitude, longitude) -->
		<location><!-- string: full text string of location. this can be used instead of address, city, state, zip--></location>
		<address><!-- string: street address with house number --></address>
		<address2><!-- string: more detailed street address info or location description --></address2>
		<city><!-- string: city of item location --></city>
		<state><!-- string: state of item location --></state>
		<zip><!-- string: zip code of item location --></zip>
		<date><!-- date: date associated with item --></date>
		<latitude><!-- float: latitude of item location --></latitude>
		<longitude><!-- float: longitude of item location --></longitude>
		<fullurl><!-- string: full path to more information about this item --></fullurl>
		<imagepath><!-- string: full path to location of image on a server --></imagepath>
		<detaillink><!-- boolean: if true, will us item->id to link to another XML dataset with full details --></detaillink>
	</item>
</dataset>

Minimum XOMGL

Minimum required fields with comments
View XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<dataset name=""> <!-- * name:string - name of the dataset  -->
	<metadata> <!-- * metadata about the dataset -->
		<sourcename><!-- * string: name of the source of the data --></sourcename> 
	</metadata>
	<locationdata> <!-- * location based information -->
		<coveragecountryid><!-- * int: id of the country of the dataset coverage area. --></coveragecountryid>
	</locationdata>
	<item> <!-- * one item of data. there can be many of these -->
		<id><!-- * string: unique id of this item based on internal system id. used for updating data later --></id>
		<name><!-- * string: name of the item --></name>
		<!-- * Note: one of the following must be provided: (location) or (address, city, state) or (latitude, longitude) -->
		<location><!-- string: full text string of location. this can be used instead of address, city, state, zip--></location>
	</item>
</dataset>

Example: Crimes

An example of a crime dataset
View XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<dataset name="Crime Reports">
	<metadata>
		<sourcename>Louisville Metro Police Department</sourcename>
		<sourceurl>http://www.louisvilleky.gov/MetroPolice/default.htm</sourceurl>
		<sourcecity>Louisville</sourcecity>
		<sourcestateid>18</sourcestateid> 
		<sourcecountryid>216</sourcecountryid>
		<description>All reported crimes for the city of Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky, since 2002.</description>
		<updatefrequency>Weekly</updatefrequency> 
		<lastupdated>2008-05-19 03:23:24.22</lastupdated>
		<startdatetime>2002-01-01 02:11:15.97</startdatetime>
		<enddatetime>2008-05-18 23:15:54.22</enddatetime>
	</metadata>
	<locationdata>
		<centercity>Louisville</centercity>
		<centerstateid>18</centerstateid>
		<centercountryid>216</centercountryid>
		<coveragecity>Louisville</coveragecity>
		<coveragestateid>18</coveragestateid>
		<coveragecountryid>216</coveragecountryid>
		<minlatitude>33.8232387</minlatitude>
		<maxlatitude>34.2312221</maxlatitude>
		<minlongitude>-85.3871842</minlongitude>
		<maxlongitude>-84.1028518</maxlongitude>
	</locationdata>
	<item>
		<id>C34928341</id>
		<name>Assault</name>
		<description><![CDATA[Assault with a Deadly Weapon, 2nd Degree<br>Time: 1:40 AM<br>Race: White<br>Sex: M<br>Born: Nov 24, 1979]]>
</description>
		<categories> 
			<categoryid>21</categoryid>
		</categories>
		<address>Baxter Ave And Tyler Park Dr</address>
		<city>Louisville</city>
		<state>KY</state>
		<date>2008-04-15</date>
		<detaillink>1</detaillink>
	</item>
</dataset>

Example: Pollution Sources

An example of a pollution source dataset
View XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<dataset name="EPA Toxic Pollution Sources">
	<metadata>
		<sourcename>Environmental Protection Agency</sourcename>
		<sourceurl>http://www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/index.htm</sourceurl>
		<sourcecountryid>216</sourcecountryid>
		<description>All sources of toxic pollution from the EPA's monitoring and reporting system from 2006-2007</description>
		<updatefrequency>Yearly</updatefrequency> 
		<lastupdated>2008-01-30 03:23:24.22</lastupdated>
		<startdatetime>2006-01-01 02:11:15.97</startdatetime>
		<enddatetime>2007-12-31 23:15:54.22</enddatetime>
	</metadata>
	<locationdata>
		<centerstateid>17</centerstateid>
		<centercountryid>216</centercountryid>
		<coveragecountryid>216</coveragecountryid>
		<minlatitude>15.82323</minlatitude>
		<maxlatitude>63.23122</maxlatitude>
		<minlongitude>-178.38718</minlongitude>
		<maxlongitude>-63.10285</maxlongitude>
	</locationdata>
	<itemdata>
		<externalurl>http://www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/datapoint/source.aspx?id=[ExternalID]</externalurl>
	</itemdata>
	<item>
		<id>439-B.3148253</id>
		<name>HEXION SPECIALTY CHEMICALS INC.</name>
		<description><![CDATA[Emissions (pounds): 12,500<br>Major Toxic Chemical: Hexaflorine]]>
</description>
		<categories> 
			<categoryid>3</categoryid>
			<categoryid>4</categoryid>
		</categories>
		<address>7635 National Turnpike Unit 130</address>
		<address2>Campmore Building</address2>
		<city>Kansas City</city>
		<state>KA</state>
		<latitude>45.39281332</latitude>
		<longitude>-152.34718334</longitude>
	</item>
</dataset>