Data Formats

This tool works with data stored in several different formats in a git repository. In general these are listed starting with the one we recommend the most, so if you aren’t sure start at the top.

YAML files, one per record

Each type of data should have a directory of it’s own.

Each record is one file.

The id of each record is part of the name of the file. eg:

1. There is a file cats/bob.yaml.

2. The type is configured to be the stored in the directory cats.

3. The id of the data is bob.

We recommend this because:

• One file per record means that many people editing different records at once will not cause merge request conflicts

• Technically aware humans usually find YAML is easier to read or edit by hand

JSON files, one per record

Each type of data should have a directory of it’s own.

Each record is one file.

The id of each record is part of the name of the file. eg:

1. There is a file cats/bob.json.

2. The type is configured to be the stored in the directory cats.

3. The id of the data is bob.

We recommend this because:

• One file per record means that many people editing different records at once will not cause merge request conflicts