Frequently Asked Questions
Questions
Answers
Why is Xena freely available?
The National Archives of Australia has licenced Xena under the GNU General Public License version 2 (the GPL2). Under the terms of the GPL, you are permitted to modify and redistribute the Xena code. You are free to copy and re-use both the source code and the finished Xena product.
The task of digital preservation, regardless of the method used, will always involve working with data in ways likely to cause changes. We are confident that the treatment of digital data by Xena is an effective means of digital preservation, but we don't just ask you to take our word for that. Our source code is available for all to see so that anyone may verify the actions of Xena.
We believe that conducting our software development in an open and public way will better serve to demonstrate the transparency and authenticity of our method of digital preservation. In addition, making our code and documentation freely available has made it easy for others to collaborate with us on further development of the software.
What file formats can Xena work with?
A list of the formats Xena supports is covered in the Xena help documentation.
What makes a format 'open'?
The following are four key characteristics of open formats.
Based on open standards
The full specification of any standard on which a format is based should be publically available without restriction.
Community developed
Standards on which formats are based should be developed by a community rather than by a single vendor or interest group. The National Archives of Australia takes a keen interest in standards development and is represented on many international standards committees.
Multiple implementations
For a format to be truly open, multiple separate software implementations created by different authors or organisations should exist. Duplication of standards is bad, but duplication of implementations is necessary for the health and longevity of a standard. As an example, if you want to buy a power outlet in Australia (a General Purpose Outlet), you can choose from at least the Clipsal and HPM brands when you make your purchase. You don’t need to worry about which will be compatible with your electrical equipment though, because both manufacturers adhere to the same power outlet standard.
No licensing constraints
There should be no intellectual property licensing or patent restrictions on the use of a format. Determining who owns the intellectual property associated with a standard can be difficult and confusing. Always aim for formats that declare no licensing restrictions.
How can I view .xena files?
When Xena normalises a file, it is convered into a new Xena file with the extension '.xena'. These files contain the normalised file as well as any extra information relevant to the normalisation process.
You can view these files and export the normalised file via the Xena viewer. From within Xena simply double click on a file that has been normalised, or run the script relevant to your operating system to load Xena viewer as a separate application.
For Windows, double click on the 'viewer.bat' file, while under Linux execute the script:
./viewer.sh
This will open the viewer interface where you can load a Xena file, view the content and export the normalised file.
