What the VOTable inspector checks
VOTable is an IVOA format for astronomical tabular data. This tool reviews versions 1.3–1.5 using their shared v1.3 namespace. It inventories RESOURCE and TABLE metadata, FIELD names and IDs, datatypes, arraysize, units, UCDs, descriptions, INFO elements, external links, and declared data serialization. It reports duplicate IDs, unresolved local FIELDref/PARAMref and table/group references, and missing field definitions.
Inline TABLEDATA audit
For TABLEDATA, it compares each TR cell count with the table’s FIELD count and checks basic boolean, integer, floating-point, and complex text values against declared types and array bounds. A small row preview helps confirm column order. The CSV export is formula-safe for spreadsheet opening. Empty cells and VOTable-specific null handling require specialist review.
Safe local workflow
Open a UTF-8 .vot, .votable, or .xml file up to 5 MiB, or paste XML. To avoid external-entity processing, DTD and ENTITY declarations are refused. The tool does not follow LINK or STREAM URLs, load remote schemas, or upload the document. Only the bounded preview is displayed, although row checks cover the accepted inline document.
Validation boundary
This is a bounded metadata and TABLEDATA preflight, not full IVOA conformance validation. It does not apply the version-specific XSD, fully validate XML namespaces or every datatype rule, decode BINARY/BINARY2/FITS/base64/gzip streams, verify VOUnits or UCD vocabularies, validate external data, or judge scientific meaning. A clean result means only that the supported checks found no errors. Use a specialist VOTable validator before publication.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a version 1.5 document using a v1.3 namespace?
IVOA retained the v1.3 namespace across VOTable 1.3, 1.4, and 1.5. The version attribute still identifies the document version.
Will external catalog streams be downloaded?
No. Their declared locations and encodings are shown as metadata only, without a network request.
Can this validate a large binary VOTable?
It can inventory metadata and stream declarations within the 5 MiB XML input limit, but it cannot decode or validate binary payloads. Use an IVOA-aware reader or validator for that work.
Authoritative reference
The IVOA VOTable Format Definition is the normative source for version, namespace, structure, serialization, and full conformance rules.
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