Sharing Data

Sharing Data - the different forms and what they look like

When sharing data with other programs or even humans, we need to agree how to present the data and separate the different fields. 

For instance, if I tracked the high outside temperatures for the week, how would I share that with you?

e.g.
             Sun    Mon    Tue    Wed    Thu       Fri    Sat
Dec 10    73        74        70    76        78        79    75
Dec 17    80        78        76    75        75        74    77
Dec  24   78        79        78    77        76        77    78
etc...

I could just send you the data:
Dec1073747076787975
Dec1780787675757477
Dec2478797877767778

but this is hard to read

I could separate them with a space
Dec 10 73 74 70 76 78 79 75
Dec 17 80 78 76 75 75 74 77
Dec 24 78 79 78 77 76 77 78

or a comma
Dec 10,73,74,70,76,78,79,75
Dec 17,80,78,76,75,75,74,77
Dec 24,78,79,78,77,76,77,78

or a tab 
Dec 10    73    74    70    76    78    79    75
Dec 17    80    78    76    75    75    74    77
Dec 24    78    79    78    77    76    77    78



When sharing data, 4 different formats are mostly used:

1. CSV - Comma Separated Values
This is used mainly by databases like Access where each field or item of data is separated with a comma. If a comma is part of the data, then the whole item is enclosed in quotes (e.g. name = "Smith, Sally").

Sample (each field is separated with a comma)
    name, street, city, state,zip, phone, age 
    "Smith, Joe", 10 Main street, Detroit, MI, 77177, 301-222-3334, 17

2. Tab delimited (by spreadsheets like Excel) - not often used by websites

Sample - (each field separated by 1 tab):
    name    street    city    state    zip    phone    age 
    Smith, Joe    10 Main street    Detroit    MI    77177    301-222-3334    17

3. JSON (by web pages)

        Sample: (each field has a name:contents)

{ "data": 

         {"name": "Smith, Joe",

          "street": "10 Main St",

           "city": "Detroit",

            "state: "MI",

            "zip": "77177",

            "phone": "301-222-3334",

            "age": "17",

          }

    }


4. XML (by programs)

       Sample: (each field has its own start/end tag)

< data>

         <name>Smith, Joe"</name>

          <street>10 Main St</street>

          <city>Detroit </city>

          <state>MI</state>

          <zip>77177</zip>

          <phone>301-222-3334</phone>

          <age>17</age>

< /data>

  


Below are some samples of actual data:

1a. CSV Formatted Weather Data:

-------------------------------------------The Data that is returned ----------------------------------------

#The CSV format is in following way:-

#First row will always contain the current weather condition. if for any reason we do not have current condition it will have 'Not Available'.

#The current weather condition data is laid in the following way:-

#observation_time,temp_C,weatherCode,weatherIconUrl,weatherDesc,windspeedMiles,windspeedKmph,winddirDegree,winddir16Point,precipMM,humidity,visibility,pressure,cloudcover

#

#The weather information is available in following format:-

#date,tempMaxC,tempMaxF,tempMinC,tempMinF,windspeedMiles,windspeedKmph,winddirDegree,winddir16Point,weatherCode,weatherIconUrl,weatherDesc,precipMM

#

02:26 AM,6,122,http://cdn.worldweatheronline.net/images/wsymbols01_png_64/wsymbol_0004_black_low_cloud.png,Overcast,4,6,210,SSW,0.2,93,16,1013,100

2014-03-19,7,44,4,38,9,14,130,SE,296,http://cdn.worldweatheronline.net/images/wsymbols01_png_64/wsymbol_0017_cloudy_with_light_rain.png,Light rain,3.2

2014-03-20,13,55,1,34,17,27,283,WNW,113,http://cdn.worldweatheronline.net/images/wsymbols01_png_64/wsymbol_0001_sunny.png,Sunny,0.0

2014-03-21,14,58,6,43,9,15,259,WSW,119,http://cdn.worldweatheronline.net/images/wsymbols01_png_64/wsymbol_0003_white_cloud.png,Cloudy,0.0

-------------------------------------------The Data that is returned ----------------------------------------

1b. CSV Formatted Stock Data:

            


2. JSON Formatted Weather Data:

-------------------------------------------The Data that is returned ----------------------------------------

{ "data": { "current_condition": [ {"cloudcover": "100", "humidity": "93", "observation_time": "02:27 AM", "precipMM": "0.2", "pressure": "1013", "temp_C": "6", "temp_F": "43", "visibility": "16", "weatherCode": "122",  "weatherDesc": [ {"value": "Overcast" } ],  "weatherIconUrl": [ {"value": "http:\/\/cdn.worldweatheronline.net\/images\/wsymbols01_png_64\/wsymbol_0004_black_low_cloud.png" } ], "winddir16Point": "SSW", "winddirDegree": "210", "windspeedKmph": "6", "windspeedMiles": "4" } ],  "request": [ {"query": "20770", "type": "Zipcode" } ],  "weather": [ {"date": "2014-03-19", "precipMM": "3.2", "tempMaxC": "7", "tempMaxF": "44", "tempMinC": "4", "tempMinF": "38", "weatherCode": "296",  "weatherDesc": [ {"value": "Light rain" } ],  "weatherIconUrl": [ {"value": "http:\/\/cdn.worldweatheronline.net\/images\/wsymbols01_png_64\/wsymbol_0017_cloudy_with_light_rain.png" } ], "winddir16Point": "SE", "winddirDegree": "130", "winddirection": "SE", "windspeedKmph": "14", "windspeedMiles": "9" }, {"date": "2014-03-20", "precipMM": "0.0", "tempMaxC": "13", "tempMaxF": "55", "tempMinC": "1", "tempMinF": "34", "weatherCode": "113",  "weatherDesc": [ {"value": "Sunny" } ],  "weatherIconUrl": [ {"value": "http:\/\/cdn.worldweatheronline.net\/images\/wsymbols01_png_64\/wsymbol_0001_sunny.png" } ], "winddir16Point": "WNW", "winddirDegree": "283", "winddirection": "WNW", "windspeedKmph": "27", "windspeedMiles": "17" }, {"date": "2014-03-21", "precipMM": "0.0", "tempMaxC": "14", "tempMaxF": "58", "tempMinC": "6", "tempMinF": "43", "weatherCode": "119",  "weatherDesc": [ {"value": "Cloudy" } ],  "weatherIconUrl": [ {"value": "http:\/\/cdn.worldweatheronline.net\/images\/wsymbols01_png_64\/wsymbol_0003_white_cloud.png" } ], "winddir16Point": "WSW", "winddirDegree": "259", "winddirection": "WSW", "windspeedKmph": "15", "windspeedMiles": "9" } ] }}

-------------------------------------------The Data that is returned ----------------------------------------


We can add returns to make it more readable and see it's "tree" structure: (It consists of many - "name:value" pairs)


-------------------------------------------The Data made to look nice ----------------------------------------

{ "data": 

    { "current_condition": [

         {"cloudcover": "100",

             "humidity": "93",

             "observation_time": "02:27 AM",

             "precipMM": "0.2",

             "pressure": "1013",

             "temp_C": "6",

             "temp_F": "43",

             "visibility": "16",

             "weatherCode": "122",

              "weatherDesc": [

                     {"value": "Overcast" } ],

                      "weatherIconUrl": [ {"value": "http:\/\/cdn.worldweatheronline.net\/images\/wsymbols01_png_64\/wsymbol_0004_black_low_cloud.png"

                     } ],

             "winddir16Point": "SSW",

             "winddirDegree": "210",

             "windspeedKmph": "6",

             "windspeedMiles": "4" 

           } ],

       "request": [ 

            {"query": "20770",

             "type": "Zipcode" 

            } ],

       "weather": [

             {"date": "2014-03-19",

              "precipMM": "3.2",

               "tempMaxC": "7",

               "tempMaxF": "44",

               "tempMinC": "4",

               "tempMinF": "38",

               "weatherCode": "296",

               "weatherDesc": [ {"value": "Light rain" } ],

               "weatherIconUrl": [ {"value": "http:\/\/cdn.worldweatheronline.net\/images\/wsymbols01_png64\/wsymbol_0017_cloudy_with_light_rain.png" } ], 

               "winddir16Point": "SE",

               "winddirDegree": "130",

               "winddirection": "SE",

               "windspeedKmph": "14",

               "windspeedMiles": "9" 

            }, 

            {"date": "2014-03-20",

             "precipMM": "0.0", 

                    ...etc

            } ] 

         }

    }

-------------------------------------------The Data made to look nice ----------------------------------------



3. XML Weather Formatted Data:


This is the data that is returned:

-------------------------------------------The Data that is returned ----------------------------------------

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><data><request><type>Zipcode</type><query>20770</query></request><current_condition><observation_time>02:28 AM</observation_time><temp_C>6</temp_C><temp_F>43</temp_F><weatherCode>122</weatherCode><weatherIconUrl><![CDATA[http://cdn.worldweatheronline.net/images/wsymbols01_png_64/wsymbol_0004_black_low_cloud.png]]></weatherIconUrl><weatherDesc><![CDATA[Overcast ]]></weatherDesc><windspeedMiles>4</windspeedMiles><windspeedKmph>6</windspeedKmph><winddirDegree>210</winddirDegree><winddir16Point>SSW</winddir16Point><precipMM>0.2</precipMM><humidity>93</humidity><visibility>16</visibility><pressure>1013</pressure><cloudcover>100</cloudcover></current_condition><weather><date>2014-03-19</date><tempMaxC>7</tempMaxC><tempMaxF>44</tempMaxF><tempMinC>4</tempMinC><tempMinF>38</tempMinF><windspeedMiles>9</windspeedMiles><windspeedKmph>14</windspeedKmph><winddirection>SE</winddirection><winddir16Point>SE</winddir16Point><winddirDegree>130</winddirDegree><weatherCode>296</weatherCode><weatherIconUrl><![CDATA[http://cdn.worldweatheronline.net/images/wsymbols01_png_64/wsymbol_0017_cloudy_with_light_rain.png]]></weatherIconUrl><weatherDesc><![CDATA[Light rain]]></weatherDesc><precipMM>3.2</precipMM></weather><weather><date>2014-03-20</date><tempMaxC>13</tempMaxC><tempMaxF>55</tempMaxF><tempMinC>1</tempMinC><tempMinF>34</tempMinF><windspeedMiles>17</windspeedMiles><windspeedKmph>27</windspeedKmph><winddirection>WNW</winddirection><winddir16Point>WNW</winddir16Point><winddirDegree>283</winddirDegree><weatherCode>113</weatherCode><weatherIconUrl><![CDATA[http://cdn.worldweatheronline.net/images/wsymbols01_png_64/wsymbol_0001_sunny.png]]></weatherIconUrl><weatherDesc><![CDATA[Sunny]]></weatherDesc><precipMM>0.0</precipMM></weather><weather><date>2014-03-21</date><tempMaxC>14</tempMaxC><tempMaxF>58</tempMaxF><tempMinC>6</tempMinC><tempMinF>43</tempMinF><windspeedMiles>9</windspeedMiles><windspeedKmph>15</windspeedKmph><winddirection>WSW</winddirection><winddir16Point>WSW</winddir16Point><winddirDegree>259</winddirDegree><weatherCode>119</weatherCode><weatherIconUrl><![CDATA[http://cdn.worldweatheronline.net/images/wsymbols01_png_64/wsymbol_0003_white_cloud.png]]></weatherIconUrl><weatherDesc><![CDATA[Cloudy ]]></weatherDesc><precipMM>0.0</precipMM></weather></data>

-------------------------------------------The Data that is returned ----------------------------------------


We can add returns to make it more readable and see it's "tree" structure: (It looks like HTML tags)


-------------------------------------------The Data made to look nice ----------------------------------------

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<data>

    <request>

           <type>Zipcode</type>

           <query>20770</query>

    </request>

    <current_condition>

           <observation_time>02:28 AM</observation_time>

           <temp_C>6</temp_C>

           <temp_F>43</temp_F>

           <weatherCode>122</weatherCode>

           <weatherIconUrl><![http://cdn.worldweatheronline.net/images/png_64/wsymbol_0004_black_low_cloud.png]></weatherIconUrl>

           <weatherDesc><Overcast ></weatherDesc>

           <windspeedMiles>4</windspeedMiles>

           <windspeedKmph>6</windspeedKmph>

           <winddirDegree>210</winddirDegree>

           <winddir16Point>SSW</winddir16Point>

           <precipMM>0.2</precipMM>

           <humidity>93</humidity>

           <visibility>16</visibility>

           <pressure>1013</pressure>

           <cloudcover>100</cloudcover>

    </current_condition>

    ...

</data>

-------------------------------------------The Data made to look nice ----------------------------------------



That's all there is to it. It looks complicated but that is just because it is so new to you. Do not be overwhelmed by so much data. Just take your time and try to make it more readable. Then look for the items that you want and pull them off the data
Subpages (1): Using the Data
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