Note: As part of the Federal Geographic Data Committee’s (FGDC) responsibilities to implement the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), the FGDC Office of the Secretariat (FGDC OS), located in USGS, working in collaboration with the FGDC’s Metadata Working Group (MWG), executed this project. The focus was to provide a mechanism for vendors that provide International Organization of Standards (ISO) compliant metadata tools and software to voluntarily provide information on their tools and software related to their ability to produce ISO 191** series standards compliant metadata records. The MWG, that includes non-Federal members, was then able to provide implementation notes for tools they utilized in order to assist other potential implementors. While the Federal agencies are still implementing the ISO 191** series of metadata standards, the MWG has finished collecting vendor summaries and MWG feedback. The capability to register and provide new information was removed from the FGDC website on September 30, 2020. The data collected on the tools and the implementation notes are made available here for MWG information purposes and will be archived when no longer of value to the MWG.
| Description | The Geoportal XML Editor (GXE) is a component of Esri Geoportal Server that allows for configuring, editing, and validating XML. While typically use for geospatial metadata (including FGDC, ISO 191xx, INSPIRE, ANZLIC, GEMINI, DDMS, NGMP, NMF, Dublin Core...) it also supports editing XML formatted documents such as StratML. |
| Company / Organization | Esri Inc. |
| URL/Web address of the Editor | https://github.com/Esri/geoportal-server/wiki/Geoportal-XML-Editor |
Geospatial Metadata Content Standards Supported
| ISO 19115:2003 – Metadata | full |
| ISO 19115-2 – Gridded Imagery Extension | full |
| ISO 19110 – Feature Catalog | full |
| ISO 19119 – Services | full |
| ISO 19115-1 - Metadata Fundamentals | full |
| Other Related Metadata Standards | INSPIRE, UK GEMINI, ANZLIC, FGDC, Dublin Core, National System for Geospatial Intelligence Metadata Foundation (NMF) Version 1.0, NATO Geospatial Metadata Profile, DDMS, DCAT. |
User Interface
| GUI | Yes |
| Edit XML Directly | Yes |
| Other / Comments | The user interface of GXE is customizable through configuration and can be tailored to tabbed view, single-page form, or other layouts and organizations of the information contained in the XML. |
Operating Platform
| Desktop | No |
| Distributed/Enterprise | Yes |
| Online Application | Yes |
| Other / Comments |
Proprietary Nature
| Open Source (publicly available) | Yes |
| Source Code Available (customers only) | Yes |
| Free or Shareware | Yes |
| Other / Comments | Geoportal Server is licensed per Apache 2.0 software license. Visit https://github.com/Esri/geoportal-server for more information. |
XML Capabilities
| Supports use of XML attributes (href, nilreason, etc.) | Yes |
| Xpath version | 1.0 |
| Other / Comments |
Auto-populate Metadata
| From geospatial data types (GIS, imagery, GPS, etc.) | Yes |
| From non-geospatial data types (spreadsheet, dbase, etc.) | Yes |
| From services | Yes |
| Other / Comments |
Validation Operations
| Compliance to ISO 19139 | Yes |
| Compliance to User-defined Schema | Yes |
| Compliance to Other Standard | Yes |
| Batch Validate | Yes |
| Validate Incomplete Record | Yes |
| Error Report Includes Warnings / Guidance | Yes |
| URL Validity Testing | Yes |
| Other / Comments | Once ingested in the Geoportal Server catalog, the availability, conformance, and performance of web services can be validated using the FGDC Service Status Checker with which Geoportal Server provides seamless integration. |
Metadata Record Import Operations
| Import FGDC CSGDM | Yes |
| Import FGDC CSGDM – Biological Profile | Yes |
| Import FGDC CSDGM – Remote Sensing Extension | Yes |
| Import ISO 19115:2003 | Yes |
| Import ISO 19115-2 | Yes |
| Batch Import | Yes |
| Import Incomplete Record | Yes |
| Import Other Metadata Standards/Formats | Yes |
| Other / Comments | Incomplete records can be stored in draft status. Similarly, when editing documents interactively, users may save documents as draft and continue working in a next session. |
Metadata Record Export Operations
| Export FGDC CSGDM | Yes |
| Export FGDC CSGDM – Biological Profile | Yes |
| Export FGDC CSDGM – Remote Sensing Extension | Yes |
| Batch Export | Yes |
| Export Incomplete Record | Yes |
| Export Other Metadata Standards/Formats | Yes |
| Other / Comments | Metadata is exported in the format is was created in. Using the cart processor of Geoportal Server (https://github.com/Esri/geoportal-server/wiki/Cart-Processor), export to different formats can be configured. |
Descriptive Questions
| Operating Environment Describe the general operating environment specifying operating system(s), data storage format, programming languages, 3rd party software requirements and whether the editor is embedded within or a component of another software application |
GXE is part of the Geoportal Server application. Full details on prerequisites are found online: https://github.com/Esri/geoportal-server/wiki/Preinstallation-1.2.6. Operating systems: Linux (any), Windows (any) Databases: Oracle, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL Java: 6+ (Java 8 recommended) Servlet container: Apache Tomcat 6.0.32 and higher (Tomcat 8 recommended), Oracle GlassFish, Oracle WebLogic |
| Support Features Describe the user support features provided within the application including drop-down pick-lists, links to metadata element definitions, embedded thesauri, spell check, conditionality/compliance indicators, interactive content guidance, geographic extent maps/calculation, indicate workflow status (draft, validated, published, etc.), user manual, online tutorials, etc. |
GXE supports various HTML input elements for selecting values. It also embeds an interactive map for setting extent. GXE can be (and has been) localized in any language and supports right-to-left user interface as well. Validation is supported through form validation (with human readable hints), schema validation, and schematron validation. Invalid documents can be saved as draft for later correction. |
| Edit Operations Describe the metadata editing operations within the application including edit language(s), ability to build/apply templates, duplicate records, reuse portions/snippets of existing metadata, construct parent/child metadata, save incomplete record, batch edit, embed attachments, etc. |
Templates may be applied, users can start from an existing document (or administrators can prohibit that). Relationships between metadata can be established or inferred. |
| Customization Describe the ability to customize the application including the ability to change the interface, set conditionality, create new elements, expand/constrict domains, integrate custom thesauri and templates, etc. |
see https://github.com/Esri/geoportal-server/wiki/GXE-Structure for information on extensibility and customization. |
| Metadata Management Describe the metadata management capabilities including ability to search metadata record elements or full text, find/replace info, delete records, batch delete, set access restrictions, require administrative record approval, etc. |
full details online: https://github.com/Esri/geoportal-server/wiki/How-to-Manage-and-Edit-Resources. the management includes approval status, search for documents on various criteria, initiate harvesting of documents from external catalogs, etc. |
| Metadata Output Format Describe the metadata output formats generated including ISO 19139 XML, non-19139 XML, HTML, PDF, text, RSS, User-defined style sheets, etc. |
The editor exports to the format the metadata was created in. |
| Metadata Publication Describe any metadata publication capabilities provided |
Geoportal Server supports publication through the editor, through uploading a file (which could then be edited), and through harvesting of metadata from online resources (individual web services, web-accessible folders (http/ftp), or other metadata catalogs (CSW, OpenSearch, Atom, DCAT ...). |
User submitted Reviews
Disclaimer: All content was submitted by, and reviewed by, application developers and user reviewers. As such, FGDC is not responsible for inaccuracies or misrepresentations. Furthermore, presentation of this information does not constitute nor imply an endorsement by the FGDC of these applications or of the views represented in the User Reviews.
updated on 03 Jul, 2015 04:26 PM ET
| Application Access and/or Installation Describe success or challenges experienced when accessing or installing the application |
Version 2.10.3 must be installed to a directory with write access, otherwise GeoNetwork will not work. There is no mention of this in the user’s guide / developer’s guide 2.10.3. I only discovered the problem/solution from an internet search of an error message I received. Potential conflict with other software programs using the same port as GeoNetwork (Oxygen, XMLSpy). Cannot be simultaneously installed together. |
| Standards Supported For the standards supported, describe success or challenges experienced with regard to how well the standards were supported |
Supports 19115-2/19139-2 when schemas added to GeoNetwork v2.10.3 (not pre-installed). Schema add-in instructions in the GeoNetwork 2.10.3 user’s guide/developer’s guide didn't work. User must have schema files; GeoNetwork-compatible files not available from GeoNetwork (that I could find). Forced schema add-in by adding 19115-2/19139-2 schemas to the GeoNetwork schema folder. This made GeoNetwork "buggy" (received “24 stylesheet errors” error message) & could not export to ISO 19139-2 XML. |
| Operating Environment Describe success or challenges you experienced with the operating environment including: operating platform (desktop, enterprise, online), operating system(s), proprietary nature, data storage format, programming languages, 3rd party software, or other |
Success: Downloadable .exe file made for easy desktop install of version 2.10.3. |
| User Interface Describe success or challenges experienced with the user interface |
Version 2.10.3: user friendly editing HTML view with drop down menus, identification of required elements in red, links to definitions of metadata elements, easy addition/deletion of packages, full view (entire record) or section view. XML view is not as user friendly. The XML text wraps, instead of retaining the XML hierarchical/indentation structure. |
| Support Features Describe success or challenges you experienced with user support features including: autopopulation of metadata from data, drop-down pick-lists, links to metadata element definitions, embedded thesauri, spell check, conditionality/compliance indicators, interactive content guidance, geographic extent maps/calculation, indicate workflow status (draft, validated, published, etc.), user manual, online tutorials, or other |
Version 2.10.3 drop-down pick-lists, links to definitions and validation tools were very useful. User manual 2.10.3 and developers manual instructions often did not match the reality of using version 2.10.3 and could not be implemented or weren’t enough to achieve the desired result (adding in a schema, exporting to XML). |
| Metadata Import and Export Describe success or challenges you experienced during metadata record import or export including: supported standards/formats, ease, accuracy, batch import/export functions, and other |
Must add-in 19115-2/19139-2 schema in order to successfully import 19115-2/19139-2 files into version 2.10.3. Version 2.10.3 allows export of 19115-2/19139-2 to 19139-2 XML, so long as the schema’s have been correctly added into GeoNetwork and some of the software install XML files have been updated. NOAA's FGDC to ISO transform XSLT is not compatible with GeoNetwork version 2.10.3. Transform of FGDC to ISO is not possible during import. |
| Metadata Creation and Edit Describe success or challenges you experienced during metadata creation and editing including: ease, ability to build/apply templates, duplicate records, utilize XML attributes (nilreason, href, etc.) reuse portions/snippets of existing metadata, construct parent/child metadata, save incomplete record, batch edit, embed attachments, and other |
Version 2.10.3: easy to edit/add packages, use of components/Xlinks, save imcomplete record, add attributes. Did not evaluate version 2.10.3 for: build/apply templates, duplicate records, construct parent/child metadata, batch edit, embed attachments. |
| Metadata Validation Describe success or challenges you experienced during metadata validation including: ease, accuracy, batch validation, validate incomplete record, error reports and warnings/guidance, URL validation testing, and other |
Version 2.10.3 validation easy to use. Did not evaluate version 2.10.3 for: batch validation, validate incomplete record, URL validation testing. |
| Customization Describe success or challenges you experienced customizing application features including: user interface, change conditionality, create new elements, expand/constrict domains, integrate custom thesauri and templates, apply custom schema, and other |
Version 2.10.3 was challenging to customize to add-in an existing standard schema for a non-developer/general user. Process wasn’t straightforward and support (online community, user/deveopers guide) were not useful to support troubleshooting. May not be an issue for a developer or a general user with developer support. Did not evaluate 2.10.3 for: customizing user interface, change conditionality, create new elements, expand/constrict domains, integrate custom thesauri and templates. |
| Metadata Management Describe success or challenges you experienced with management of your metadata including: ability to search/find metadata records, find/replace info, delete records, batch delete, set access restrictions, require administrative record approval, or other |
Challenge: once loaded into GeoNetwork, it isn’t straightforward to find where the records are, nor did the user guide 2.10.3 speak to this directly. Through trial and error I eventually figured it out. Did not evaluate these functions in GeoNetwork 2.10.3: find/replace information, delete records, batch delete, set access restrictions, require administrative record approval. |
| Metadata Catalog /Distribution Site Publication If metadata publication directly to a catalog or data collection/distribution site is supported, describe success or challenges you experienced |
I did not look for or evaluate the presence/absence of this feature in GeoNetwork 2.10.3. |