slug: data-package --- title: Data Package --- mediatype: application/vnd.datapackage+json --- descriptor: datapackage.json --- created: 12 November 2007 --- updated: 2 May 2017 --- version: 1.0.0-rc.2 --- abstract: A simple container format for describing a coherent collection of data in a single 'package'. It provides the basis for convenient delivery, installation and management of datasets. --- body: # Introduction A Data Package consists of: * Metadata that describes the structure and contents of the package * Resources such as data files that form the contents of the package The Data Package metadata is stored in a "descriptor". This descriptor is what makes a collection of data a Data Package. The structure of this descriptor is the main content of the specification below. In addition to this descriptor a data package will include other resources such as data files. The Data Package specification does NOT impose any requirements on their form or structure and can therefore be used for packaging **any kind of data**. The data included in the package may be provided as: * Files bundled locally with the package descriptor * Remote resources, referenced by URL * "Inline" data (see below) which is included directly in the descriptor ## Illustrative Structure A minimal data package on disk would be a directory containing a single file: datapackage.json # (required) metadata and schemas for this data package Lacking a single external source of data would make this of limited use. A slightly less minimal version would be: datapackage.json # a data file (CSV in this case) data.csv Additional files such as a README, scripts (for processing or analyzing the data) and other material may be provided. By convention scripts go in a scripts directory and thus, a more elaborate data package could look like this: datapackage.json # (required) metadata and schemas for this data package README.md # (optional) README in markdown format # data files may go either in data subdirectory or in main directory mydata.csv data/otherdata.csv # the directory for code scripts - again these can go in the base directory scripts/my-preparation-script.py Several example data packages can be found in the [datasets organization on github][datasets], including: * [World GDP][gdp] * [ISO 3166-2 country codes][3166] [datasets]: https://github.com/datasets [gdp]: https://github.com/datasets/gdp [3166]: https://github.com/datasets/country-codes # Specification ## Descriptor The descriptor is the central file in a Data Package. It provides: * General metadata such as the package's title, license, publisher etc * A list of the data "resources" that make up the package including their location on disk or online and other relevant information (including, possibly, schema information about these data resources in a structured form) A Data Package descriptor `MUST` be a valid JSON `object`. (JSON is defined in [RFC 4627][]). When available as a file it MUST be named `datapackage.json` and it MUST be placed in the top-level directory (relative to any other resources provided as part of the data package). [RFC 4627]: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4627.txt The descriptor MUST contain a `resources` property describing the data resources. All other properties are considered `metadata` properties. The descriptor MAY contain any number of other `metadata` properties. The following sections provides a description of required and optional metadata properties for a Data Package descriptor. Adherence to the specification does not imply that additional, non-specified properties cannot be used: a descriptor MAY include any number of properties in additional to those described as required and optional properties. For example, if you were storing time series data and wanted to list the temporal coverage of the data in the Data Package you could add a property `temporal` (cf [Dublin Core][dc-temporal]): ```javascript "temporal": { "name": "19th Century", "start": "1800-01-01", "end": "1899-12-31" } ``` This flexibility enables specific communities to extend Data Packages as appropriate for the data they manage. As an example, the [Tabular Data Package][tdp] specification extends Data Package to the case where all the data is tabular and stored in CSV. [tdp]: /specs/tabular-data-package/ Here is an illustrative example of a datapackage JSON file: ```javascript { # general "metadata" like title, sources etc "name" : "a-unique-human-readable-and-url-usable-identifier", "title" : "A nice title", "licenses" : [ ... ], "sources" : [...], # list of the data resources in this data package "resources": [ { ... resource info described below ... } ], # optional ... additional information ... } ``` ## Resource Information Packaged data resources are described in the `resources` property of the package descriptor. This property MUST be an array of `objects`. Each object MUST follow the [Data Resource specification][dr]. [dr]: /specs/data-resource/ ## Metadata ### Required Properties The `resources` property is required, with at least one resource. ### Recommended Properties In addition to the required properties, the following properties SHOULD be included in every package descriptor: #### `name` A short url-usable (and preferably human-readable) name of the package. This MUST be lower-case and contain only alphanumeric characters along with ".", "_" or "-" characters. It will function as a unique identifier and therefore SHOULD be unique in relation to any registry in which this package will be deposited (and preferably globally unique). The name SHOULD be invariant, meaning that it SHOULD NOT change when a data package is updated, unless the new package version should be considered a distinct package, e.g. due to significant changes in structure or interpretation. Version distinction SHOULD be left to the version property. As a corollary, the name also SHOULD NOT include an indication of time range covered. #### `id` A property reserved for globally unique identifiers. Examples of identifiers that are unique include UUIDs and DOIs. A common usage pattern for Data Packages is as a packaging format within the bounds of a system or platform. In these cases, a unique identifier for a package is desired for common data handling workflows, such as updating an existing package. While at the level of the specification, global uniqueness cannot be validated, consumers using the `id` property `MUST` ensure identifiers are globally unique. Examples: ```javascript { "id": "b03ec84-77fd-4270-813b-0c698943f7ce" } ``` ```javascript { "id": "https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.726855" } ``` #### `licenses` The license(s) under which the package is provided. **This property is not legally binding and does not guarantee the package is licensed under the terms defined in this property.** `licenses` MUST be an array. Each item in the array is a License. Each MUST be an `object`. The object MUST contain a `name` property and/or a `path` property. It MAY contain a `title` property. Here is an example: ```javascript "licenses": [{ "name": "ODC-PDDL-1.0", "path": "http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/pddl/", "title": "Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License v1.0" }] ``` * `name`: The `name` MUST be an [Open Definition license ID][od-licenses] * `path`: A [url-or-path][] string, that is a fully qualified HTTP address, or a relative POSIX path (see [the url-or-path definition in Data Resource for details][url-or-path]). * `title`: A human-readable title. [od-licenses]: http://licenses.opendefinition.org/ [od-approved]: http://opendefinition.org/licenses/ [semver]: http://semver.org [url-or-path]: /specs/data-resource/#url-or-path #### `profile` A string identifying the [profile][] of this descriptor as per the [profiles][profile] specification. [profile]: /specs/profiles/ Examples: ```javascript { "profile": "tabular-data-package" } ``` ```javascript { "profile": "http://example.com/my-profiles-json-schema.json" } ``` ### Optional Properties The following are commonly used properties that the package descriptor MAY contain: #### `title` A `string` providing a title or one sentence description for this package #### `description` a description of the package. The description MUST be [markdown][] formatted -- this also allows for simple plain text as plain text is itself valid markdown. The first paragraph (up to the first double line break) should be usable as summary information for the package. #### `homepage` A URL for the home on the web that is related to this data package. #### `version` a version string identifying the version of the package. It should conform to the [Semantic Versioning][semver] requirements and should follow the [Data Package Version](https://frictionlessdata.io/specs/patterns/#data-package-version) pattern. #### `sources` The raw sources for this data package. It MUST be an array of Source objects. Each Source object MUST have a `title` and MAY have `path` and/or `email` properties. Example: ```javascript "sources": [{ "title": "World Bank and OECD", "path": "http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD" }] ``` * `title`: title of the source (e.g. document or organization name) * `path`: A [url-or-path][] string, that is a fully qualified HTTP address, or a relative POSIX path (see [the url-or-path definition in Data Resource for details][url-or-path]). * `email`: An email address #### `contributors` The people or organizations who contributed to this Data Package. It MUST be an array. Each entry is a Contributor and MUST be an `object`. A Contributor MUST have a `title` property and MAY contain `path`, `email`, `role` and `organization` properties. An example of the object structure is as follows: ```javascript "contributors": [{ "title": "Joe Bloggs", "email": "joe@bloggs.com", "path": "http://www.bloggs.com", "role": "author" }] ``` * `title`: name/title of the contributor (name for person, name/title of organization) * `path`: a fully qualified http URL pointing to a relevant location online for the contributor * `email`: An email address * `role`: a string describing the role of the contributor. It MUST be one of: `author`, `publisher`, `maintainer`, `wrangler`, and `contributor`. Defaults to `contributor`. * Note on semantics: use of the "author" property does not imply that that person was the original creator of the data in the data package - merely that they created and/or maintain the data package. It is common for data packages to "package" up data from elsewhere. The original origin of the data can be indicated with the `sources` property - see above. * `organization`: a string describing the organization this contributor is affiliated to. #### `keywords` An Array of string keywords to assist users searching for the package in catalogs. #### `image` An image to use for this data package. For example, when showing the package in a listing. The value of the image property `MUST` be a string pointing to the location of the image. The string must be a [url-or-path][], that is a fully qualified HTTP address, or a relative POSIX path (see [the url-or-path definition in Data Resource for details][url-or-path]). #### `created` The datetime on which this was created. Note: semantics may vary between publishers -- for some this is the datetime the data was created, for others the datetime the package was created. The datetime must conform to the string formats for datetime as described in [RFC3339][]. Example: ```javascript { "created": "1985-04-12T23:20:50.52Z" } ``` [RFC3339]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3339#section-5.6 [dc-temporal]: http://dublincore.org/documents/usageguide/qualifiers.shtml#temporal [markdown]: http://commonmark.org/