formatsit

Formatsit is a modular software framework intended to describe, validate, convert, and manage a wide range of document and data formats. It provides a formal description language for formats, a runtime for parsing and serializing data, and a registry of available format definitions. The aim is to enable tooling to handle new formats with minimal bespoke code.

Architecturally, Formatsit consists of a core engine, a collection of plug-in format definitions, and a registry that maps formats to their parsers, serializers, and validators. Each format definition declares capabilities such as parsing rules, encoding, metadata, and conversion pathways. The system supports streaming data, incremental parsing, and cross-format transformations, enabling pipelines to process large datasets efficiently.

Key features include automatic format detection through signature analysis, extensible format definitions, validation against schema or manifest rules, and conversion between formats via pluggable pipelines. Formatsit emphasizes portability with bindings for multiple programming languages and a lightweight runtime suitable for embedded or cloud environments. It also supports metadata extraction and provenance tracking to aid content management and auditing.

Usage scenarios cover content management systems, data ingestion workflows, digital forensics, and research publishing. A typical workflow involves selecting or creating a format definition, registering it in the format registry, and using the core engine to parse, validate, transform, or serialize data. Formatsit promotes community-curated definitions and open standards to reduce duplication of effort.