trailpack

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Trailpack proposes a standard way to link data and specialized metadata in one single file. It provides a simple interface to link metadata to fixed ontologies, improving the accessibility and comparability of datasets from different sources.

What is Trailpack?

Trailpack combines metadata and data into a single Parquet file, making open data more accessible and sustainable. It validates metadata against developed standards including:

• General metadata for the data package (name, license, contributors)
• Specialized metadata for each data column - linking both column names and units to fixed descriptions in ontologies provided by PyST

The developed standard expands on and is compatible with the Frictionless Data Package specification. The metadata is included under the datapackage.json keyword in the Parquet file.

The output file is readable using PyArrow and other data handlers - and will be compatible and consumable using Sentier data tools.

Origin: Trailpack was initially built during the hackathon of Brightcon 2025 in Grenoble, as part of developing the standard data format for Départ de Sentier.

Installation

You can install trailpack via pip from PyPI:

pip install trailpack

Usage

Web Application

The easiest way to use Trailpack is through the web application.

The web app provides a step-by-step workflow:

1. Upload File & Select Language: Upload an Excel file and select language for PyST mapping
2. Select Sheet: Choose which sheet to process with data preview
3. Map Columns: Map each column to PyST concepts with automatic suggestions
4. General Details: Provide package metadata (name, title, license, contributors)
5. Download: Get your standardized Parquet file with embedded metadata

For walkthrough videos demonstrating the workflow, see the documentation.

Local Web UI

You can also run the Streamlit UI locally:

trailpack ui

For more details, see trailpack/ui/README.md.

Deploying to Streamlit Cloud? See STREAMLIT_DEPLOYMENT.md for complete deployment instructions.

📦 DataPackage Schema Classes

Trailpack includes comprehensive schema classes for building Frictionless Data Package metadata:

Key Features

• DataPackageSchema: Defines field types, validation rules, and UI configuration
• MetaDataBuilder: Fluent interface for creating metadata programmatically
• Field validation: Built-in validation for package names, versions, URLs
• UI integration ready: Field definitions include labels, placeholders, patterns
• Standards compliant: Follows Frictionless Data Package specification

Quick Example

from trailpack.packing.datapackage_schema import MetaDataBuilder, Resource

# Create metadata with fluent interface
metadata = (MetaDataBuilder()
    .set_basic_info(name="my-dataset", title="My Dataset")
    .add_license("CC-BY-4.0")
    .add_contributor("Your Name", "author")
    .add_resource(Resource(name="data", path="data.parquet"))
    .build())

# Use with Packing class
from trailpack.packing import Packing
packer = Packing(df, metadata)
packer.write_parquet("output.parquet")

🔍 Validation System

Trailpack includes a comprehensive validation system to ensure data quality and standards compliance:

Features

• ✅ Metadata validation: Required fields, naming conventions, license checking
• ✅ Data quality metrics: Missing values and duplicates (logged as info, not errors)
• ✅ Type consistency: Mixed types and schema matching (raises errors)
• ✅ Unit requirements: All numeric fields must have units (including dimensionless)
• ✅ Compliance levels: STRICT, STANDARD, BASIC, or NON-COMPLIANT

Quick Example

from trailpack.validation import StandardValidator

# Create validator
validator = StandardValidator("1.0.0")

# Validate everything
result = validator.validate_all(
    metadata=metadata_dict,
    df=dataframe,
    schema=schema_dict
)

# Check results
if result.is_valid:
    print(f"{result.level}")  # e.g., "✅ STRICT COMPLIANCE"
else:
    print(result)  # Shows all errors and warnings

Unit Requirements

All numeric fields must specify units, even for dimensionless quantities:

• Measurements: Use SI or domain units (kg, m, °C)
• IDs/Counts: Use dimensionless unit (http://qudt.org/vocab/unit/NUM)
• Percentages: Use percent or dimensionless

See trailpack/validation/README.md for complete documentation.

Contributing

Contributions are very welcome! To learn more, see the Contributor Guide.

Development Setup

Install the package with development requirements:

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Run tests:

pytest

For more information, see CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

Distributed under the terms of the MIT license, trailpack is free and open source software.

Issues

If you encounter any problems, please file an issue along with a detailed description.

Building the Documentation

You can build the documentation locally by installing the documentation Conda environment:

conda env create -f docs/environment.yml

activating the environment

conda activate sphinx_trailpack

and running the build command:

sphinx-build docs _build/html --builder=html --jobs=auto --write-all; open _build/html/index.html