Datatool

datatool

Quick Start

• Command: datatool -m module.asn [options]
• Local executable: /home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin/datatool
• Version observed locally: 2.24.0 (blast 2.17.0 package build)
• Detailed help: datatool -help

When To Use This Tool

• Work with NCBI ASN.1 module definitions and related XML / JSON schema exports.
• Validate or dry-run complex ASN.1 conversion jobs before executing them.
• Generate DTD, XMLSchema, JSONSchema, definition, or export-spec artifacts from module files.
• Stay within the NCBI datatool ecosystem instead of hand-rolling format metadata.

Common Patterns

# 1) Show the detailed argument reference
datatool -help

# 2) Validate a planned run against a module file without executing it fully
datatool -m module.asn -dryrun

# 3) Ask for XML-oriented help text
datatool -xmlhelp

Recommended Workflow

1. Start with -help or -xmlhelp because the option surface is large.
2. Identify the relevant ASN.1 module file and pass it with -m.
3. Use -dryrun before any real export or transformation step.
4. Add only the specific output-generation flags you actually need once the dry run looks correct.

Guardrails

• Real work requires -m moduleFile; help and version flags are the exception.
• datatool uses NCBI-style single-dash long options such as -help, -version, -version-full-xml, not GNU --help.
• The CLI surface is broad enough that blindly copying flags is error-prone; verify intended modes with -help first.
• -dryrun is the safest way to check a complex invocation before generating files.
• This binary comes from the BLAST package build rather than a standalone datatool package, so version strings include both the tool and BLAST package context.