DG AGS4 validation tool

Tool to check whether an AGS file conforms with the AGS format rules and data dictionary.

This is a front end to the 'official' AGS validation tool created and maintained by the AGS validator open source project.

Instructions
  • Select file to validate using file picker below
  • Review and select options below, as applicable
  • Click button to run - then please be patient as large files may take a while to process!
  • Results are presented on screen, with option to download the results in a standardised format

If you are having problems, or if you would just like to provide some feedback, then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Limitations

Select AGS version to be validated against

* Version stated in file (TRAN_AGS) will be used. If this is blank or invalid, AGS4 validator default will be used.

Additional technical information

This app is a front end to the 'official' AGS validation tool created and maintained by the AGS validator open source project. Further information can be found in the AGS (validator) Python library documentation and/or the AGS (validator) Python library Gitlab repo.

This Digital Geotechnical front end provides the file selection page and the results page. File parsing and validation is undertaken by the AGS tool, which feeds results to our front end. We have achieved this by referencing the python-ags4 Python library in our code.

The downloadable txt result file is a standard output generated by python-ags4, i.e. this should always be the same regardless of the software/app implementation used. The downloadable JSON result file is a copy of the raw data output by python-ags4.

Note: In v2.0.0 the downloadable txt and JSON may include reference to FYI in the results. This is due to a bug in v1.0.0 of python-AGS4 which will be fixed in the next version. Please ignore the FYI as the intent of python-ags4 going forward is to NOT include FYI or warnings.

The version of the AGS python library used is stated in the output (Metadata section). We will try to ensure that this tool uses the latest version of the AGS validator. However, we cannot guarantee that this will always be the case. In particular there may be a delay in implementation of AGS library updates whilst we carry out compatibility testing. If you are not sure then please use the above links to confirm the latest version of the AGS library.

Please get in touch if you wish to process files larger than 25MB.

Revision history

Only changes that affect the results and other significant changes are listed here. Minor cosmetic changes may not be included.

Version Date Description of change
2.0.0 04/02/2025 v1.0.0 of AGS Validator library (python-ags4) implemented which is the first official (non beta) version. This includes some bug fixes and minor enhancements - see AGS (validator) Python library Gitlab repo for details.
IMPORTANT CHANGE: Warnings and FYI are no longer reported as these are no longer reported by the AGS Validator library (except they may still be reported in the txt and JSON output for the time being due to a bug in python-ags4 which is being fixed).
Txt output amended so that it uses the standard output now made available from the AGS Validator library. However, this means that the txt output no longer includes the full text fo each rule (as seen on the screen output).
SHA256 hash code for the file, as reported by the AGS Validator library (from v1.0.0) is included in the reported metadata.
Maximum file size allowed increased up to 25MB.
1.3.0 07/05/2024 v0.6.0 of AGS Validator library (python-ags4) implemented. This includes some bug fixes and minor enhancements - see python-ags4 documentation for details.
Validation Process Errors that cause early termination of validation are now correctly captured and reported.
JSON file output amended to match the dict output from the Validator.
Option to have either/or txt or JSON output removed. Both txt and JSON output are now made available for download. However, creation of these files can be suppressed using the new toggle button.
1.2.0 16/02/2024 v0.5.0 of AGS Validator library (python-ags4) implemented. This includes some significant bug fixes and enhancements - see python-ags4 documentation for details.
Warnings and FYI (added in v0.5.0 of python-ags4) are summarised and listed separate from the main validation errors.
Default version assumed for validation changed to 4.1.1 (only used in absence of selection or unable to interpret from TRAN_AGS).
Maximum permitted file size increased to 10MB.
Updated backend (Python 3.12, Flask 3.0.2, jinja2 3.1.3, werkzeug 3.0.1).
1.1.0 25/11/2022 v0.4.1 of AGS Validator library (python_ags4) implemented.
Improved error handling, e.g. useful message output if validator terminates process early due to a critical issue such as a BOM.
Revised internal process for obtaining AGS version from file (TRAN_AGS) that is less likely to fail.
1.0.0 01/02/2022 First stable release