Table of Contents. Xena help. Xena help...1. Introduction...2. Getting started...3. Setting preferences...4

Transcription

1 Xena help

2 Xena help Table of Contents Xena help...1 Introduction...2 Getting started...3 Setting preferences...4 Setting up plugins...6 External programs...6 Audio...7 Location of external program...7 How to configure the Audio plugin...7 Image...9 Location of external programs...9 How to configure the Image plugin...9 Metadata...12 Location of external program...12 How to configure the Exiftool plugin...12 OpenOffice.org...14 About OpenOffice.org...14 Location of external program...14 How to configure the Office plugin Location of external program...17 How to configure the plugin...17 Normalising files...19 Binary Normalisation...19 Normalisation...19 Normalisation options...20 Normalise...20 Binary Normalise...20 Convert...21 Retain directory structure...21 Produce text version...21 Normalising a directory...22 Normalising one or more files...25 i

3 Xena help Table of Contents Binary normalising...28 Converting files...30 Convert options...31 Convert...31 Retain directory structure...31 Produce text version...32 Converting one or more files...33 Viewing Xena files...36 Viewing the results...37 From the Xena Viewer...37 Viewing Xena files from within Xena...38 From the main Xena window...38 Viewing Xena files from the normalisation results...39 Viewing options...40 Xena Package View...40 Raw XML View...40 XML Tree View...41 Exporting Xena files...43 Xena interface...45 Interface buttons...46 Menu bar...47 Glossary...48 Supported formats...50 Licensing...53 ii

4 Xena help Welcome to the help pages for Xena! It is recommended that you begin with the Introduction and work your way through the help topics. The Glossary of Terms provides an explanation of terms used in the help topics. You may browse any help topic by selecting it from the left-hand pane. Xena help 1

5 Introduction Xena digital preservation software is free and open source software. It has been developed by the National Archives of Australia to aid in the long term preservation of digital records. Xena is an acronym meaning Xml Electronic Normalising for Archives. Written in Java, Xena is a cross-platform application which runs on Linux, Windows and Apple Mac OS X. Xena software aids digital preservation by performing two important tasks: detecting the file formats of digital objects converting digital objects into open formats for preservation. Introduction 2

6 Getting started Before using Xena to normalise files, you will need to do the following: 1. Set Xena Preferences - see Setting Preferences. 2. Install external programs - see Setting Up Plugins. 3. Configure Xena plugins - see Setting Up Plugins. Getting started 3

7 Setting preferences The following procedure describes how to configure the: Xena destination directory - where Xena output files are saved Xena log file - where the Xena log file is stored. 1. From the Menu Bar, select Tools - Xena Preferences: Result: The Xena Preferences window is displayed. Setting preferences 4

8 Xena help 2. In the Xena destination directory field: Click the Browse button to open a file browser. Navigate to where you want to save Xena output files. Click Open. 3. In the Xena log file field: Click the Browse button to open a file browser. Navigate to the location where you want to save the Xena log file. Click Open. Setting preferences 5

9 Setting up plugins Xena uses a series of plugins to normalise input files to preservation file formats. By using all the available plugins, Xena can normalise a wide range of file formats. However, for some file formats (such as video), there is no corresponding Xena plugin. When you start Xena, it loads all the plugins available under the Xena/plugins directory. If you attempt to normalise a certain file format and the corresponding plugin is either not in the plugins directory or does not exist (for example video), Xena will only binary normalise the input file. Xena will binary normalise any files that are already in a preservation file format (such as PNG). This is because the files are already in the desired format and do not need to be converted. External programs Some of the Xena plugins call on external programs to normalise certain file types. For Xena to work properly with all supported file formats, you will need to install the following external programs: FLAC ( is a free and open source software tool and file format for lossless audio data compression - see Audio Readpst is part of the free and open source libpst software suite ( which converts PST files to MBOX format - see Convert is part of the free and open source ImageMagick software suite ( for displaying, converting and editing raster image files - see Image Tesseract ( is a free and open source Optical Character Recognition (OCR) engine used to create text versions of certain files - see Image OpenOffice.org ( is a free and open source office suite which supports numerous file formats - see Office. Exiftool ( a platform-independent application for extracting metadata from a variety of file formats - see Metadata. Note: Depending on your operating system, some of the above external programs may be included in the Xena distribution. Setting up plugins 6

10 Audio The external tool used by Xena to convert audio files is FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec). During compression, FLAC does not lose quality from the audio stream, unlike lossy compression formats such as MP3 and AAC. FLAC ( is a free and open source software tool and file format for lossless audio data compression. Location of external program Depending on your operating system, the FLAC executable may be included with the Xena package. If so, the executable will be located within a sub-directory of the directory containing the Xena program (xena.jar). Otherwise, the executable must be installed separately. Linux - install flac via your distribution's package manager. After installation, the flac executable is most likely located under /usr/bin/. OS X - the file is called flac and is located in the macx86 sub-directory. Windows - the file is called flac.exe and is located in the win32 sub-directory. How to configure the Audio plugin 1. From the Xena menu bar, select Tools - Plugin Preferences - Audio: Audio 7

11 Xena help Result: The audio properties window is displayed. 2. Click Browse and navigate to the location of the FLAC executable (see above). 3. Click Open. 4. Click OK to save the setting. Result: Xena will now be able to convert audio into FLAC. How to configure the Audio plugin 8

12 Image The majority of images are converted internally via Xena itself without the need for external tools. However, a small subset of image file types do require the external tool, Convert, to enable conversion. Convert is part of the free and open source ImageMagick software suite ( for displaying, converting and editing raster image files. Xena also employs the use of another external application called Tesseract. Tesseract performs OCR on TIFF images, which are commonly the result of scanned paper documents, to create a text version of the TIFF. Tesseract ( is a free and open source OCR engine used to create text versions of certain files. Note: Specifying the location of either of these external applications is optional. Without ImageMagick, some types of images will not be converted to PNG, and will be binary normalised. Without Tesseract, image files will still be converted to PNG and preserved but text versions of TIFF images will not be created. Location of external programs Depending on your operating system, the Convert (ImageMagick) and Tesseract executables may be included with the Xena package. If so, the executables will be located within a sub-directory of the directory containing the Xena program (xena.jar). Otherwise, the executables must be installed separately. Linux - install imagemagick and tesseract-ocr via your distribution's package manager. After installation, the executables are most likely located under /usr/bin/. OS X - the files are called convert and tesseract which will be located in the macx86 sub-directory. Windows - the files are called convert.exe and tesseract.exe which will be located in the win32 sub-directory. How to configure the Image plugin 1. From the Xena menu bar, select Tools - Plugin Preferences - Image: Image 9

13 Xena help Result: The image properties window is displayed. 2. In the Location of ImageMagick Convert Executable field: Click the Browse button. Navigate to the location of the ImageMagick Convert executable (see above). How to configure the Image plugin 10

14 Xena help Click Open. 3. In the Location of Tesseract Executable field: Click the Browse button. Navigate to the location of the Tesseract executable (see above). Click Open. 4. Click OK to save the settings. How to configure the Image plugin 11

15 Metadata Xena uses Exiftool and Apache Tika to extract metadata from input files. Exiftool is an external program. Location of external program Depending on your operating system, the exiftool executable may be included with the Xena package. If so, this will be located within a sub-directory in the same directory as the Xena program (xena.jar). Otherwise, the executable must be installed separately. Linux - install the exiftool package via your distribution's package manager, after which the exiftool executable is most likely located under /usr/bin/. OS X - the exiftool executable is located in the macx86 sub-directory. Windows - the exiftool executable is located in the win32 sub-directory. How to configure the Exiftool plugin 1. From the Xena menu bar, select Tools - Plugin Preferences - Metadata: Metadata 12

16 Xena help Result: The Metadata Preferences window is displayed. 2. Click Browse button. 3. Navigate to the location of the exiftool executable (see above). 4. Click Open. 5. Click OK to save this setting. How to configure the Exiftool plugin 13

17 OpenOffice.org The external tool for converting office documents to Open Document Format (ODF) is OpenOffice.org. Note: If you have not already done so, please install the latest version of OpenOffice.org as it is not bundled with Xena. About OpenOffice.org OpenOffice.org ( is a free and open source office suite which supports numerous file formats. OpenOffice.org must be installed to enable Xena to convert word processed documents, spreadsheets and presentations into Open Document Format (ODF), ISO If OpenOffice.org is not installed, Xena will only binary normalise these file types. For more information about Binary Normalisation, see Normalising Files. It is recommended that you use the latest version of OpenOffice.org, which may be downloaded free of charge from Normalisation will be more reliable if a single version of OpenOffice.org is installed on your computer. For this reason, it is recommended that you remove any earlier versions of OpenOffice.org from your system, making sure you only have the latest version installed. Location of external program Depending on your operating system, OpenOffice.org will typically be installed in the following location: Linux - under /usr/bin/ or /usr/lib/, although it depends on your distribution. OS X - under /Applications/. Windows - under C:\Program Files\. How to configure the Office plugin 1. From the Xena menu bar, select Tools - Plugin Preferences - Office: OpenOffice.org 14

18 Xena help Result: The office properties window is displayed. 2. In the Base Directory of OpenOffice.org Installation field: Click the Browse button. Navigate to the base directory of OpenOffice.org (see above). How to configure the Office plugin 15

19 3. Xena help Click Open. Optional: In the Sleep time allowed for OpenOffice.org to start field, type the amount of time (in seconds) that Xena should wait for the system to start OpenOffice.org. Note: This option allows you to tell Xena how long to wait before trying to load OpenOffice.org. The default value is 5 seconds. Some slower systems take longer to load OpenOffice.org, which may result in Xena being unable to contact it to perform file conversion. If using a fast computer, reducing this value (perhaps down to just a few seconds) may decrease the time required to convert a large amount of office files. 4. Click OK to save the settings. How to configure the Office plugin 16

20 The external tool for converting Outlook PST files to XML is readpst. Readpst is part of the free and open source libpst software suite ( which converts PST files to MBOX format. Location of external program Depending on your operating system, the readpst executable may be included with the Xena package. If so, this will be located within a sub-directory in the same directory as the Xena program (xena.jar). Otherwise, the executable must be installed separately. Linux - install the libpst package via your distribution's package manager, after which the readpst executable is most likely located under /usr/bin/. OS X - the executable is called readpst and will be located in the macx86 sub-directory. Windows - the executable is called readpst.exe and will be located in the win32 sub-directory. How to configure the plugin 1. From the Xena menu bar, select Tools - Plugin Preferences

21 Xena help Result: The Preferences window is displayed. 2. Click Browse button. 3. Navigate to the location of the readpst executable (see above). 4. Click Open. 5. Click OK to save this setting. How to configure the plugin 18

22 Normalising files Binary Normalisation Xena preserves files by encoding them into 'plain text' ASCII characters ( via Base64 encoding ( and then wrapping XML metadata around the file. The resulting Xena file is plain text and human readable, although the content of the data itself is not (it is represented in ASCII). The exact original file can be fully retrieved by stripping the metadata and reversing the Base64 encoding. This is done automatically via the Xena Viewer using its Export function. Normalisation Xena can also convert the original file format into an openly specified format, such as ODF or PNG. As this is the default behaviour of Xena and good preservation practice, this is referred to simply as 'Normalisation'. The default normalising action is to determine a file's type, then apply the normaliser suited to that type. Xena can normalise single files or entire directories of files. As with binary normalised files above, normalised files may be accessed via the Xena Viewer and exported for use with other applications. If Xena can not determine the file type, it will automatically fall back to binary normalisation. For a list of supported file formats, see Supported Formats. Normalising files 19

23 Normalisation options You can select from several normalisation options prior to normalising any files. These options are available via the main Xena window: Normalise This is selected by default. Xena determines the file type of each file to be normalised and applies the normaliser best suited to that file type. Once converted to an open format, the files are then encoded as text (Base64 encoded) with an XML metadata header and footer. Binary Normalise This option skips the conversion step above, retaining the original file in its original format. Xena will still encode the file in Base64 text with an XML metadata header and footer. Normalisation options 20

24 Convert Xena help This option converts the input format to an openly-specified file format. See Convert for more information. Retain directory structure This is selected by default. Any files normalised with this option can be exported with the directory structure they had prior to being normalised. This is a useful feature if you are normalising several files with a complex directory structure. For more information about exporting, see Exporting Xena Files. Produce text version Xena will create a human readable text version of the normalised file in the text-version sub-directory of the Xena destination directory (see Setting Preferences). Xena will only produce text versions of certain file types, where they actually include text (a photograph of the beach will not work). Supported file types include: TIFF Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel Microsoft Write PDF Plain text RTF Word Pro Open Document Spreadsheet Open Document Text HTML. Convert 21

25 Normalising a directory To normalise a directory of files: 1. In the Normalisation Options section of the main Xena window ensure that Guess Type for All Files is selected. 2. Click the Add Directory button. Result: The file browser window is displayed. 3. Select the directory containing the files to be normalised. 4. Click Open. Result: The directory selected is displayed in the Items to Normalise section of the main Xena window. Normalising a directory 22

26 Xena help This process can be repeated for as many files as required. 5. Click Normalise. Note: During processing, the Pause and Stop buttons will become available. Clicking either of these buttons will interrupt processing after the current file has been processed. If the current file is large or complex, there may be some delay before either of these buttons come into effect. Result: Once processing is completed, the results are presented in the Normalisation Results section. Normalising a directory 23

27 Xena help 6. Click OK. 7. To complete the normalisation process, do one of the following: To save the resulting preserved Xena files and start a new session, click Done. To delete the resulting preserved Xena files and continue the same session, click Cancel. To binary normalise files which failed normalisation and continue the same session, click Binary Normalise Failures. Normalising a directory 24

28 Normalising one or more files This help topic describes how to normalise a single file, or several files across different directories. If you want to normalise a group of files in the one directory, see Normalising a Directory. 1. In the Normalisation Options section of the main Xena window ensure that Guess Type for All Files is selected. 2. Click the Add Files button. Result: The file browser window is displayed. 3. Select the file(s) to be normalised. To select more than one file, use Shift+click or Ctrl+click. 4. Click Open. Result: The file(s) selected are displayed in the Items to Normalise section of the main Xena window. Normalising one or more files 25

29 Xena help This process can be repeated for as many files as required. 5. Click Normalise. Note: During processing, the Pause and Stop buttons will become available. Clicking either of these buttons will interrupt processing after the current file has been processed. If the current file is large or complex, there may be some delay before either of these buttons come into effect. Result: Once processing is completed, the results are presented in the Normalisation Results section. Normalising one or more files 26

30 Xena help 6. Click OK. 7. To complete the normalisation process, do one of the following: To save the resulting preserved Xena files and start a new session, click Done. To delete the resulting preserved Xena files and continue the same session, click Cancel. To binary normalise files which failed normalisation and continue the same session, click Binary Normalise Failures. Normalising one or more files 27

31 Binary normalising Binary normalisation preserves the original format of a file without converting it to an openly specified format. Xena will encode the original file in Base64 text with an XML metadata header and footer. To binary normalise one or more files: 1. In the Normalisation Options section of the main Xena window, select Binary Normalisation Only. 2. Select the file(s): To add one or more individual files, click the Add Files button. To add a directory and all its files, click the Add Directory button. Result: The file browser window is displayed. 3. Select the file(s) or directory to be normalised. 4. Click Open. Result: The selection is displayed in the Items to Normalise section of the main Xena window. Binary normalising 28

32 Xena help 5. Click Normalise. Note: During processing, the Pause and Stop buttons will become available. Clicking either of these buttons will interrupt processing once the current file has been processed. If the current file is large or complex, there may be some delay before either of these buttons come into effect. Result: Once processing is completed, the results are presented in the Normalisation Results section. 6. Click OK. 7. To complete the normalisation process, do one of the following: To save the resulting preserved Xena files and start a new session, click Done. To delete the resulting preserved Xena files and continue the same session, click Cancel. Binary normalising 29

33 Converting files Xena can convert an input file into an openly specified format, such as ODF or PNG. Convert is different to Normalisation as it doesn't produce a Xena file; the input file is converted to an open format and placed in the Destination directory (see Setting Preferences). If the input file is already in an openly specified format, it is copied to the Destination directory. Xena can convert single files or entire directories of files. Converting files 30

34 Convert options You can select from several options prior to converting any files. These options are available via the main Xena window: Convert This option must be selected to convert the selected input files. Retain directory structure This is selected by default. Any files converted with this option have their original directory structure preserved. This is a useful feature if you are converting files with a complex directory structure, such as archives. Convert options 31

35 Produce text version Xena help Xena will create a human readable text version of the converted file in the text-version sub-directory of the Xena destination directory (see Setting Preferences). Xena will only produce text versions of certain file types, where they actually include text (a photograph of the beach will not work). Supported file types include: TIFF Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel Microsoft Write PDF Plain text RTF Word Pro Open Document Spreadsheet Open Document Text HTML. Produce text version 32

36 Converting one or more files This help topic describes how to convert a single file, or several files across different directories. 1. In the Options section of the main Xena window, select Convert. 2. Click the Add Files button. Result: The file browser window is displayed. 3. Select the file(s) to be converted. To select more than one file, use Shift+click or Ctrl+click. 4. Click Open. Result: The file(s) selected are displayed in the Items to Convert section of the main Xena window. Converting one or more files 33

37 Xena help This process can be repeated for as many files as required. 5. Click Convert. Note: During processing, the Pause and Stop buttons will become available. Clicking either of these buttons will interrupt processing after the current file has been processed. If the current file is large or complex, there may be some delay before either of these buttons come into effect. Result: Once processing is completed, the results are presented in the Results section. Converting one or more files 34

38 Xena help 6. Click OK. 7. To complete the normalisation process, do one of the following: To save the conversion results and start a new session, click Done. To delete the conversion results and continue the same session, click Cancel. Converting one or more files 35

39 Viewing Xena files Once you have normalised one or more files, you can view the results via the Xena Viewer. The Xena Viewer can be launched from within Xena. See Viewing the Results for more information. From the Xena Viewer you can do a number of things: View the file itself or the XML. See Viewing Options for more information. Export the file from the Xena Viewer. See Exporting Xena Files for more information. Viewing Xena files 36

40 Viewing the results Preserved Xena files can be viewed in any application capable of rendering XML. The data of the original file however will still be encoded in Base64 text and therefore be incomprehensible. The Xena Viewer application is included with Xena, which can reverse the Base64 encoding and present the original data on the screen in a legible form. It also has the option to export the data, which will take it from its preserved form back to the original file (see Exporting Xena Files). From the Xena Viewer If your operating system has associated.xena files with the Xena Viewer, you can open a file directly from the file manager. If not, it can be achieved manually: 1. Launch Xena Viewer. Result: The Xena Viewer main window is displayed. 2. Click Open. Result: The file browser window is displayed. 3. Navigate to the Xena destination directory (see Setting Preferences for more information). 4. Select the file you wish to export and click Open. Result: The file is displayed in the Xena Viewer. Viewing the results 37

41 Xena help Viewing Xena files from within Xena To view a normalised file from within Xena you can either: open a file from your Xena destination directory double-click one of the files displayed in the Normalisation Results section of the main Xena window, immediately following normalisation. From the main Xena window 1. Select File - Open. Result: The file browser window is displayed. 2. Navigate to the Xena destination directory (see Setting Preferences for more information). 3. Select the file you wish to export and click Open. Result: The file is displayed in the Xena Viewer window (see above). From the Xena Viewer 38

42 Xena help Viewing Xena files from the normalisation results This option only applies if you view a file immediately after you have completed normalisation. 1. Normalise one or more files (see Normalising One or More Files). Result: The following example shows some normalisation results and a JPEG image file that has been selected for viewing. 2. From the Normalisation Results section of the main Xena window, double-click the normalised file. Result: The file is displayed in the Xena Viewer window (see above). Viewing Xena files from the normalisation results 39

43 Viewing options There are several options available when viewing Xena files. Whilst viewing a preserved file in Xena Viewer, use the drop-down menu at the top of the window to switch between available views. The default view is the Xena Package View, which represents the original data on screen. Xena Package View Depending on the format of the file you are viewing, you should see the original file contents displayed in this view. If not, there may be further viewing options. For example, the viewer won't display Microsoft Office files but will offer the option to open the file in the OpenOffice.org suite. The following shows an image being viewed via the Xena Package View. Raw XML View To see the file in its XML format, select Raw XML View. Viewing options 40

44 Xena help The following image shows a TIFF file in Raw XML View. The TIFF metadata has been preserved during the conversion of the file to PNG format. Note: Large files may be split into multiple chunks. To see all of the XML, use the navigation buttons to browse through the pages. XML Tree View The XML Tree View displays the XML metadata according to the XML hierarchy of the Xena file. Raw XML View 41

45 Xena help XML Tree View 42

46 Exporting Xena files The Xena Viewer can be used to export both normalised and binary normalised files. To export Xena files: 1. Open the file you want to export (see Viewing the Results). Result: The file is displayed in the Xena Viewer window. 2. Click Export. Result: The file browser window is displayed. 3. Select a destination location for the exported file and click Save. 4. Result: If the export was successful, an Export Complete dialog is displayed. Exporting Xena files 43

47 Xena help 5. To close the export screen and return to the Xena Viewer window, click OK. Result: The exported file has been saved to the specified location. The following image shows the normalised PNG format of the TIFF image, shark.tif, which has been exported as shark.tif.png. Exporting Xena files 44

48 Xena interface The Xena interface consists of the following: Menu Bar Interface Buttons Normalisation Options. Xena interface 45

49 Interface buttons The following table describes the buttons available in the Xena interface and what each of them does. Button Action Clears the selected files list, ready to select new files for normalising. Displays the Xena log file. For selecting one or more files to normalise. For selecting a directory of files to normalise. Removes selected files or directories from the Items to Normalise section. Starts normalising the files or directories in the Items to Normalise section. Starts converting the files or directories in the Items to Convert section. Pauses the current normalisation or conversion process. The pause function will not interrupt the processing of the file currently being normalised or converted, but will take effect before starting to process the next file. Once the normalisation or converstion processes is paused, the Resume button is displayed. Stops the current normalisation or conversion process. The stop function will not interrupt the processing of the file currently being normalised or converted, but will take effect before starting to process the next file. Continues processing until all selected files have been normalised or converted, or until the process is interrupted by pause or stop. Available when processing has been paused. Deletes all outputs of the current normalisation or conversion process. This is useful if the wrong files have been selected for conversion or if the wrong normalisation option has been selected. Saves the results of the current normalisation or conversion process and closes the current session. Normalises all files that failed the current normalisation process. Interface buttons 46

50 Menu bar Close the current session and exit Xena. This menu allows you to: set the destination location for files normalised by Xena. This must be set before Xena can normalise any files. Set the Xena log file location. See Setting Preferences for more details. The Xena normaliser plugins for Audio, Image, and Office can be configured by selecting the plugin from the list. See Setting Up Plugins for more details. Online help documents. Version and development team information. Normaliser plugins and their version numbers. Menu bar 47

51 Glossary The following table provides a list of definitions for some of the terms used in the Xena Help topics. Term AIP (Archival Information Package) ASCII Base64 Encoding Binary AIP Definition Normalised record that is stored in the digital repository with accompanying preservation metadata. A code for representing English characters as numbers, with each letter assigned a number from 0 to 127. For example, the ASCII code for upper-case M is 77. Most computers use ASCII codes to represent text, which makes it possible to transfer data from one computer to another. A method of representing binary data as text. A binary normalised record that is stored in the digital repository with accompanying preservation metadata. Binary Normalising The process of converting the original data object to Base64 encoding. Binary Object Bitmap Graphics Closed Format Convert Data Object Digital Preservation Digital Record Embedded Metadata Export FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) Format Metadata Metadata Wrapper / Package Wrapper An object that is stored in a computer, formatted as a sequence of zeros and ones. A raster image format stored as values representing coloured pixels that make up an image. A file format that is owned by an entity and for which the specification is not publically available. In a preservation sense, it is not wise to store data in these formats as they are not able to be freely utilised. Conversion of an input file to an openly-specified file format. This process does not involve creation of a Xena file. The smallest discrete unit of digital records for preservation. In desktop computing terms, a file. The act of preserving digital information, usually computer files such as documents and images. A record for which access depends on the use of a computer system. Metadata included within a data file. The process of separating content and metadata in a normalised file in order to represent the content in an accessible manner. An open format for audio files that offers excellent audio quality and lossless compression. A structured means of storing digital information such that it can be interpreted by a software application. Information used to manage, use and understand data - literally 'data about data'. An example for a photograph (stored as a digital image) might be the date and time that the image was captured or the shutter speed and aperture of the camera used. A component of Xena that wraps a small amount of metadata in each preserved AIP. The metadata includes information about the file including date last modified, date normalised, date created, normaliser version. Glossary 48

52 Xena help Normaliser Normalising Open Format ODF (Open Document Format) PNG (Portable Network Graphics) Preservation Format Raster Graphics Vector Graphics Xena File Xena Viewer XML (extensible Markup Language) Xena Plugin used to convert a source data format into equivalent open format. The process of converting records from their original formats into open, preservation formats. A data format which is not encumbered by patents and for which the specification is publicly available. These formats are good for preserving data as they are able to be freely utilised. An ISO approved open format for storing documents, such as spreadsheets and presentations. An open format for raster images. A standardised format for the storage of data objects. Raster is a way to represent an image through individually coloured picture elements (pixels) and the placement of these pixels creates the overall image. Quality is lost when zooming as it is simply a magnification of the pixels. A digital image encoded as mathematical formulas that represent lines, shapes and curves. Vector images may be zoomed with no loss of quality. This is a resulting normalised file. It contains the original data converted to an open format with XML metadata. Component of Xena that displays a normalised file in various formats, such as its normalised version, the raw data and the XML as well as any wrapped metadata. A way to store structured information in a flat file via the use of tags. Glossary 49

53 Supported formats During the process of normalisation, Xena will convert the following file types to the specified open format. Note: Xena will automatically binary normalise any unsupported file types. Archives and Compressed Files GZIP JAR MAC BINARY TAR TAR.GZ WAR ZIP All files are extracted from the archive and normalised into separate Xena files. All files are extracted from the archive and normalised into separate Xena files. A Xena index file is created, which when opened in a Xena Viewer, will display the files in a table. All files are extracted from the archive and normalised into separate Xena files. All files are extracted from the archive and normalised into separate Xena files. A Xena index file is created, which when opened in a Xena Viewer, will display the files in a table. Works as a combination of 'GZIP' and 'TAR'. All files are extracted from the archive and normalised into separate Xena files. All files are extracted from the archive and normalised into separate Xena files. A Xena index file is created, which when opened in a Xena viewer, will display the files in a table. All files are extracted from the archive and normalised into separate Xena files. A Xena index file is created, which when opened in a Xena viewer, will display the files in a table. Audio AIFF Audio Interchange File Format files are converted to FLAC. FLAC Free Lossless Audio Codec files are preserved and wrapped in XML. MP3 MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 files are converted to FLAC. OGG OGG container format files are converted to FLAC. WAV Waveform Audio Files are converted to FLAC. Databases Supported formats 50

54 Xena help SQL Structured Query Language files are preserved and wrapped in XML. Documents CSV/TSV Comma and Tab Separated Values-based files are stored as a special case of plain text. DOC/PPS/PPT/XLS Microsoft Office documents are converted to the Open Document Format. DOCX/PPTX/XLSX Microsoft Office Open XML documents are converted to the Open Document Format. HTML Hypertext Markup Language files are converted to XHTML. MPP Microsoft Project documents are converted to XML. ODS/ODP/ODT Open Document files are preserved and wrapped in XML. RTF Rich Text Format is converted to Open Document Format. SYLK This spreadsheet format is converted to Open Document Format. SXC/SXI/SXW StarOffice formats are open, but are converted to the newer Open Document Format. TXT Text files are preserved and wrapped in XML. WPD Word Perfect files are converted to Open Document Format. XHTML Extensible Hypertext Markup Language files are preserved and wrapped in XML. XML Extensible Markup Language files are preserved and wrapped in XML. MBX/MBOX PST TRIM Mailboxes are converted to individual XML files and a Xena index file is created which will display the files in a table when opened with Xena Viewer. Mailboxes from Microsoft Outlook are converted to individual XML files and a Xena index file is created which will display the files in a table when opened with Xena Viewer. Messages from TRIM are converted to XML and a Xena index file is created which will display the files in a table when opened with Xena Viewer. Graphics BMP Bitmap image files are converted to PNG. CUR Windows cursor files are converted to PNG. GIF Graphics Interchange Format image files are converted to PNG. Supported formats 51

55 JPEG JPEG image files are preserved and wrapped in XML. ODG Open Office Document Drawings are preserved and wrapped in Xena XML. PCX PDF Personal Computer exchange image files are converted to PNG. Portable Document Format files are preserved and wrapped in XML. PNG Portable Network Graphics are preserved and wrapped in XML. PNM Portable Anymap graphic bitmap files are converted to PNG. PSD RAS SVG TIFF Photoshop image files are converted to PNG. Sun raster graphics are converted to PNG. Scalable Vector Graphics are preserved and wrapped in XML. Tagged Image File Format image files are converted to PNG. Embedded metadata is preserved in Xena XML. XBM X11 Bitmap Graphics are converted to PNG. XPM Unix Icon files are converted to PNG. Xena help Page Description CSS Cascading Style Sheets are preserved and wrapped in XML. Scripts All scripting files are stored as plain text. XSLT Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations are preserved and wrapped in XML. Supported formats 52

56 Licensing This version of Xena is released under the GNU General Public License Version 3 (GPL3). GPL3 is a free and open source license that allows for unrestricted distribution and modification of the Xena application (as long as all further modifications are also distributed under the GPL3 and made publicly available). For a list of licenses associated with the external libraries used by Xena, please see Third Party Licenses. The Xena trademark is owned by the National Archives of Australia. Licensing 53