MetronInfo v1 blog announcement (#16)

* MetronInfo v1 blog annoucement

blog/2024-11-23-metroninfo-v1/index.md

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+---
+slug: metroninfo-v1
+title: MetronInfo V1.0
+date: 2024-11-22T11:45
+authors: [ bpepple ]
+tags: [ metadata, comic, comicvine, metron ]
+---
+
+# MetronInfo.xsd v1.0
+
+I'm happy to announce the v1.0 of the
+[MetronInfo schema](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Metron-Project/metroninfo/refs/heads/master/schema/v1.0/MetronInfo.xsd)
+has been finalized and is now ready to be used by developers and consumers. So, I'll start off by answering some
+questions (most of this will be from the projects README).
+
+## What is it?
+
+MetronInfo is a *new* xml document type that fixes some deficiencies that exist in the current de facto xml
+file, [ComicInfo.xml](https://github.com/anansi-project/comicinfo), to store metadata for a comic. Some of our
+improvements include:
+
+- Addition elements to track information that are not included with the current standard.
+- Better handling of data types. For instance, instead of using delimited strings we use arrays of elements.
+- Elements to track where the data was obtained from.
+- `id` attributes for resources (Characters, Creators, etc.), so items with different names can be associated correctly.
+
+## Is the schema only for the Metron Database?
+
+No, the schema only has *Metron* in the name since almost every other format has *Comic* in the name, and the
+originating author hates naming projects, so he went with the simplest choice. 😄 It was designed to be used for any of
+the comic resources (Comic Vine, AniList, etc.)
+
+## Where can I find the schemas?
+
+Version 1.0 of the schema is located in [schema](https://github.com/Metron-Project/metroninfo/tree/master/schema)
+directory
+
+## Is there documentation for it?
+
+Yes, there is [documentation](https://metron-project.github.io/docs/category/metroninfo) describing the elements usage
+and also a Matrix to help with age rating mapping.
+
+## How can I validate my XML?
+
+It's recommended that any software that writes the XML make use of the schema to validate, so consumers of the XML
+document can be sure of its data. The schema use XSD 1.1, so you need to make sure your validation code uses that
+instead of XSD 1.0.
+
+For example to validate the XML in python:
+
+```python
+from pathlib import Path
+from xmlschema import XMLSchema11, XMLSchemaValidationError
+
+xsd = Path("/home/user/MetronInfo.xsd")
+xml = Path("/home/user/MetronInfo.xml")
+
+schema = XMLSchema11(xsd)
+try:
+    schema.validate(xml)
+except XMLSchemaValidationError as e:
+    print(f"Failed to validate XML: {e!r}")
+    exit(1)
+
+# Code to write / read the xml file
+```
+
+## What software currently supports it?
+
+Currently, the following software does:
+
+- [Metron-Tagger](https://github.com/Metron-Project/metron-tagger) - Commandline tool to tag comic with metadata (
+  MetronInfo or ComicInfo) from Metron Comic Book Database.
+
+If you are a developer that has added support for MetronInfo.xml to your software, please create a PR to update the
+README
+or [contact me](mailto:[email protected]?subject=MetronInfo%20Support&body=Please%20add%20the%20following%20software%20to%the%20README:%20).
+
+## Future
+
+One of the goals of the project was to be responsive to the needs of the community, so if you have suggestion for
+improvements to the schema please file a
+[feature request](https://github.com/Metron-Project/metroninfo/issues/new?assignees=&labels=&projects=&template=feature_request.md&title=),
+[bug report](https://github.com/Metron-Project/metroninfo/issues/new?assignees=&labels=&projects=&template=bug_report.md&title=),
+or start a [discussion](https://github.com/Metron-Project/metroninfo/discussions).
+
+## Thanks
+
+I'd like to thank everyone that has contributed to the schema, and in
+particular [AJ](https://github.com/ajslater), [Buried-In-Code](https://github.com/Buried-In-Code),
+and [Joe](https://github.com/majora2007) who have helped out a lot in the last few months.