The Data Management committee has been busy again.  Just months after releasing AGS 4.1 we are releasing a beta version of an AGS file validator. The ‘AGS Validator BETA’ is free to download and will provide a single source for validating ‘Electronic Transfer of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Data – AGS4’ (AGS Data Format) files.

For many years the industry has used commercial AGS Data Format checking applications (checkers) that sometimes produce differing results due to the varied assumptions made by the developers.  Therefore, clients have traditionally specified AGS files must be validated by several of these checkers before the data is submitted to them, resulting in additional work for clients, contractors, and software providers.

The AGS Validator initiative, started by Asitha Senanayake from Fugro and aided by Roger Chandler from Bentley, has been running for six months and has been rigorously tested by members of the AGS committee over recent months. The committee feel it is ready to be tested in the real world and are therefore releasing it to the industry for beta testing.

The ‘AGS Validator BETA’ is a standalone software program.  There are further initiatives in the pipeline to provide capability to import AGS Data Format files into Excel and the BGS are working on an online web validator due for release at the end of the summer.

All validator Python libraries have been developed under Lesser General Public (LGPL) open-source licences and the AGS would welcome review of the code and further comment.  The project has received coding contributions from four countries to date, demonstrating the power of the collaborative, open-source working environment.

To download the beta software visit:

https://www.ags.org.uk/data-format/ags-validator/

If you have any questions, find any problems or need help with the AGS Validator BETA please complete the feedback form on the website, or if your company are a registered data format user please post your comment on the AGS Discussion Boards at www.ags.org.uk/data-format/dwqa-questions.

The AGS Validator will be in Beta until the Autumn 2021, it must not be specified in contracts until it is fully released later in the year.

Asitha Senanayake, Project Engineer at Fugro –

“I have been using AGS data in my role for several years and have found open-source software to be invaluable for this work. I started this open‑source project to supplement the functionality of the Python Pandas data analysis library to work with AGS data, and I am delighted that the AGS committee has adopted and expanded it”. 

Roger Chandler, Geotechnical Information Management Director at Bentley –

“It is a pleasure to lead this project. Bentley fully supports this venture and will be promoting the use of this AGS Validator instead of our gINT and KeyAGS checkers.  We will be integrating the AGS Validation into OpenGround in the coming months.”

Edd Lewis, Standards Lead, BGS –

“The BGS welcomes this new AGS initiative and fully embraces it to help improve the quality of the AGS Data Format files being submitted to the BGS Depository via our upcoming Web API”.