The WARC (Web ARChive)
archive format
In computing, an archive file stores the content of one or more computer file, files, possibly lossless compression, compressed, with associated metadata such as file name, directory structure, error detection and correction information, commentary ...
specifies a method for combining multiple digital resources into an aggregate
archive file
In computing, an archive file stores the content of one or more files, possibly compressed, with associated metadata such as file name, directory structure, error detection and correction information, commentary, compressed data archives, sto ...
together with related information. These combined resources are saved as a WARC
file which can be replayed using appropriate software such as
ReplayWeb.page, or used by archive websites such as the
Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...
.
The WARC format is a revision of the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
's
ARC_IA File Format that has traditionally been used to store "
web crawls" as sequences of content blocks harvested from the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is an information system that enables Content (media), content sharing over the Internet through user-friendly ways meant to appeal to users beyond Information technology, IT specialists and hobbyis ...
. The WARC format generalizes the older format to better support the harvesting, access, and exchange needs of archiving organizations. Besides the primary content currently recorded, the revision accommodates related secondary content, such as assigned
metadata
Metadata (or metainformation) is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data itself, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including:
* Descriptive ...
, abbreviated duplicate detection events (see ยง7.6 "revisit"), and later-date transformations.
The WARC format is inspired by HTTP/1.0 streams, with a similar header and the use of CRLFs as delimiters, making it very conducive to crawler implementations.
First specified in 2008,
WARC is now recognised by most
national library
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...
systems as the standard to follow for web archiving,
though some have also started to list
WACZ as an acceptable format.
Software
*
ArchiveBox
*
ArchiveWeb.page
*
Apache Nutch
*
Conifer
Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...
*har2warc
*
Heritrix web archiver in
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
*
libarchive
*
ReplayWeb.page
*
Scoop
*
StormCrawler
*warcit
*
wget (since version 1.14)
See also
*
ZIM (file format)
*
HAR (file format)
References
External links
WARC File Format specificationsThe WARC File Format (ISO 28500) - Information, Maintenance, DraftsWARC, Web ARChive file formatWARC implementation guidelinesWelcomeThe WARC Ecosystem
Archive formats
Web archiving
Web archives
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