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Format

Keyhole Markup Language (XML)

Summary

Name
Keyhole Markup Language (XML)
Identifiers
  • MIME: application/vnd.google-earth.kml+xml
  • PUID: fmt/244
Format type
  • GIS
  • Text (Mark-up)
Description
KML is an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) sponsored xml schema file format used to display geographic data in an earth browser, such as Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google Maps for mobile. A KML file is processed in much the same way that HTML (and XML) files are processed by web browsers. Like HTML, KML has a tag-based structure with names and attributes used for specific display purposes. Thus, Google Earth and Maps act as browsers for KML files. Full specifications available at: http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/kml
File extensions
kml
Source
Digital Preservation Department / The National Archives
Developed by
Google
Supported by
Google

Relationships

Equivalent to
Has priority over

Internal signatures

Keyhole Markup Language

Note
Header: XML declaration and version, followed by kml namespace decalaration. Footer: </kml>

Byte sequences

Min Frag Length
Absolute from BOF
Offset
0
Max offset
3
Byte Sequence
3C3F786D6C2076657273696F6E3D(22|27)312E30(22|27)*3C6B6D6C20786D6C6E733D
Endianness
None
Min Frag Length
Absolute from EOF
Offset
0
Max offset
2
Byte Sequence
3C2F6B6D6C3E
Endianness
None

Changelog

  • Updated in V84

    Release date
    21 January 2016

    Keyhole Markup Language (XML): Added MIME.

  • Updated in V81

    Release date
    18 February 2015

    Keyhole Markup Language (XML): Updated to distinguish the XML and container versions.

  • Added in V55

    Release date
    4 January 2012

    Keyhole Markup Language: Format description information supplied by the Geospatial Multistate Access and Preservation Partnership (GeoMAPP).

    Keyhole Markup Language: Signature developed through PRONOM Research.