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 | CatMDEdit is a metadata editor tool that facilitates the documentation of resources, with special focus on the description of geographic information resources. It is an initiative of the National Geographic Institute of Spain (IGN), which is the result of the scientific and technical collaboration between IGN and the Advanced Information Systems Group (IAAA) of the University of Zaragoza with the technical support of GeoSpatiumLab (GSL). |
| Company / Organization | GeoSpatiumLab S.L. |
| URL/Web address of the Editor | http://catmdedit.sourceforge.net/ |
Geospatial Metadata Content Standards Supported
| ISO 19115:2003 – Metadata | full |
| ISO 19115-2 – Gridded Imagery Extension | none |
| ISO 19110 – Feature Catalog | full |
| ISO 19119 – Services | full |
| ISO 19115-1 - Metadata Fundamentals | none |
| Other Related Metadata Standards | Dublin Core, MARC21, ISO19115 profiles: INSPIRE, WISE, NEM, Core |
User Interface
| GUI | Yes |
| Edit XML Directly | No |
| Other / Comments | HTML viewer for metadata preview |
Operating Platform
| Desktop | Yes |
| Distributed/Enterprise | No |
| Online Application | No |
| Other / Comments |
Proprietary Nature
| Open Source (publicly available) | Yes |
| Source Code Available (customers only) | Yes |
| Free or Shareware | Yes |
| Other / Comments |
XML Capabilities
| Supports use of XML attributes (href, nilreason, etc.) | No |
| Xpath version | none |
| 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 | Automatic metadata generation for some data file formats: Shapefile, DGN, ECW, FICC, GeoTiff, GIF/GFW, JPG/JGW, PNG/PGW. Automatic metadata generation for spatial series. Automatic metadata generation from the getCapabilities operation supported by a service that complies with the OGC Specifications (WMS, CSW, WFS, WCS or WPS). |
Validation Operations
| Compliance to ISO 19139 | Yes |
| Compliance to User-defined Schema | Yes |
| Compliance to Other Standard | No |
| Batch Validate | No |
| Validate Incomplete Record | No |
| Error Report Includes Warnings / Guidance | Yes |
| URL Validity Testing | No |
| Other / Comments | Metadata validation according to the mandatory elements defined in each metadata profile and the INSPIRE and NEM recomendations by means of the new metadata validation service from Spanish SDI (IDEE). |
Metadata Record Import Operations
| Import FGDC CSGDM | Yes |
| Import FGDC CSGDM – Biological Profile | No |
| Import FGDC CSDGM – Remote Sensing Extension | No |
| Import ISO 19115:2003 | Yes |
| Import ISO 19115-2 | No |
| Batch Import | Yes |
| Import Incomplete Record | No |
| Import Other Metadata Standards/Formats | Yes |
| Other / Comments | Dublin Core, MARC21 |
Metadata Record Export Operations
| Export FGDC CSGDM | Yes |
| Export FGDC CSGDM – Biological Profile | No |
| Export FGDC CSDGM – Remote Sensing Extension | No |
| Batch Export | Yes |
| Export Incomplete Record | No |
| Export Other Metadata Standards/Formats | Yes |
| Other / Comments | Dublin Core, MARC21 |
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 |
Multi-platform (Windows, Unix). As it has been developed in Java and the storage of metadata records is managed directly through the file system, the application can be deployed in any platform with the minimum requirement of having installed a Java virtual machine. |
| 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. |
Contacts repository tool. Thesaurus tool. On-line help about the metadata elements Metadata validation Visualization of some data file formats such as Shapefile, ECW, GeoTiff, GIF, JPG, BMP, PDF, HTML, ... Additional tools for the selection of bounding box coordinates, geographic extent: polygon selection on a map. |
| 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. |
Metadata edition in conformance with ISO 19115:2003/Cor 1 2006, ISO/TS 19139:2007 XML encoding. Edition interfaces adapted to different metadata profiles: NEM (Nucleo Español de Metadatos), INSPIRE, WISE. Metadata edition in conformance with ISO 19119:2005. Edition interfaces adapted to different metadata profiles: NEM, INSPIRE. Metadata edition in conformance with the Dublin Core metadata standard (ISO 15836). This tool follows the guidelines for expressing Dublin Core metadata using RDF. |
| 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. |
Customization of the tool to support new ISO19115/19119 metadata profiles according to user needs. |
| 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. |
Definition and management of different metadata repositories (repositories may also contain data files), including the selection and filtering of metadata records stored in each local metadata repository. |
| 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. |
Exchange of metadata records according to different standards in XML and RDF: ISO19139 technical specification. CSDGM (Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata), defined by U.S. FGDC. Dublin Core in RDF. MARC21 metadata standard (ISO 2709): MARCXML , MARC21 2709 and labelled MARC21 formats. Presentation of metadata records using different look & feels in HTML and Excel. |
| Metadata Publication Describe any metadata publication capabilities provided |
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 20 Jul, 2015 08:57 PM ET
| Application Access and/or Installation Describe success or challenges experienced when accessing or installing the application |
Installation was quick and easy on both Windows and Linux. Administrative access is not required for installation. |
| Standards Supported For the standards supported, describe success or challenges experienced with regard to how well the standards were supported |
CSDGM, ISO 19115, Dublin core |
| 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 |
Software works fine in both the Windows and Linux Operating systems, Java required. Open Source License ( LGPL) Software appears to be intended for local desktop use , with no connection to online services. All data storage in in XML file format. |
| User Interface Describe success or challenges experienced with the user interface |
The user interface can be a little intimidating at first, but there are user guides such as the one at the NCOnemap website, http://www.nconemap.com/Portals/7/documents/metadata_iso/SMAC_Metadata_Committee_CatMDEdit_How_To.pdf , to help a new user become familiar. |
| 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 |
There is limited autopopulation of metadata from data ( shape file). Drop downs are available for the sections of the standard that are well defined. Element definitions are printed at the input screens. Projection Coordinates for extent are not reprojected to Lat/Long . The contact library is userful for defining both organizations and individuals to make it easy to insert common contact/address information in metadata. |
| 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 |
Export of CSDGM, import and export of ISO 19115 and Dublin Core. There appears to be the ability to import multiple metadata files in one operation, but did not test. |
| 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 |
Easy to create templates and copy them into the library from the file system. Did not test more complex manipulations. It is possible to copy and paste common metatdata element content from one section to another. |
| 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 |
Metadata validation tool for ISO 19115 is quick easy to use. Errors are highlighted at the top of the hierarchy and on down to the specific element. Incomplete data can be saved, but validation will highlight missing elements. |
| 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 |
No customization was attempted beyond creating templates. Since the software is open source under the GNU GPL License, the entire program could be customized to any extent desired. If sufficient funding were available, several of the shortcomings listed in this review could be addressed and distributed without limitation beyond the original license. Possibly combining functionality with existing similarly licensed open source software. |
| 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 |
Metadata is published locally in a file system directory. Multiple directories can be defined as individual repositories. Access control is dictated by the file system controls. Did not see search or find mechanism. Insertion or deletion of metadata records can be easily accomplished by right-clicking on an empty record or right clicking on an existing record, respectively. |
| 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 |
Not attempted |