TextFormats

TextFormats is an open-source software library and toolset to simplify the definition and parsing of text formats commonly used in bioinformatics. The library allows researchers to easily create specifications for new text formats using a simple data description format and an interactive wizard. TextFormats also provides features for automatically generating data examples and testing specifications to ensure correctness. Once a format specification is created, the library enables parsing and writing data in that format using various programming languages such as Nim, Python, and C/C++, as well as through command line and graphical user interface tools. Although TextFormats is a general-purpose software, its main target application is bioinformatics, where new techniques, software tools, and data types often require the definition of new formats. The library includes specifications for several standard existing bioinformatics formats to facilitate their use.