ProDBWiki/DeveloperDocumentation/MzDataImportSpecification

= mzData Import Specification =

== Introduction ==

mzData is an XML exchange format for mass-spectrometry data and is created and maintained by the Proteomics Standards Initiative. The format is defined by an XML schema and an ontology. The ontology defines legal values for so-called cvParam elements to provide flexibility concerning new mass-spectrometers and their componentry.

An mzData format importer for ProDB needs to consider two different mapping problems. The first one is a relatively simple one: XML elements/attributes need to be mapped onto ProDB object attributes. The second kind of mapping is a little bit more difficult: we need to map ontology-controlled cvParam elements onto ProDB object attributes. An example:

ProDB models the kind of ionisation directly as classes, for example DB::Ionisation::Electrospray or DB::Ionisation::Maldi. In mzData, however, this information is stored in a list of cvParam elements in mzData/description/instrument/source, for example