CoMet Specification

There are a number of applications and online services that will assist you in the creation of your comic’s XML file; you can even create one by hand using nothing but a text editor.

When using the CoMet tags, you must add a namespace declaration as the second line in your xml file, like this:
<comet
xmlns:comet="http://www.denvog.com/comet/"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.denvog.com http://www.denvog.com/comet/comet.xsd">

The namespace declaration points to a document that defines the CoMet tags. Without the declaration, the tags are meaningless.

Use UTF-8 encoding for your file. Other encodings are not guaranteed to work in all applications. All values should be plain text (no markup or HTML).

Note that the use of all tags is not required (except for the Title tag), but are recommended in order to provide the best possible user experience. Each tag that may be used more than once is labeled “Repeatable” (e.g. Batman has multiple characters). Content producers may introduce metadata beyond what is found in the CoMet specification as needed. However, metadata names shall not begin with the prefix “comet:” unless defined in this specification. Applications utilizing this specification must not fail when encountering unknown metadata but must, at a minimum, ignore it.

It is recommended to limit element values to 255 characters, except forwith a recommended limit of 4000 characters.

<title>
Title of the comic. Required element.

<description>
Description of the comic’s content.

<series>
Name of story arc, or collective volume, often consisting of several issues.

<issue>
Number representing a single comic release. May be one of several issues that comprise a sequence to make up a volume.

<volume>
Number representing annual publication or story arc, often consisting of several issues.

<publisher>
The group, organization, company or individual who is responsible for originating the production of a publication.

<date>
Date of print publication. Utilizes the form YYYY-MM-DD defined in a profile of ISO 8601. Required 4-digit year, optional 2-digit month, and optional 2-digit day of month. If the full date is unknown, month and year (YYYY-MM) or just year (YYYY) may be used. In this scheme, for example, the date 1994-11-05 corresponds to November 5, 1994.

<genre>
The nature or genre of the comic.

<character>
Use for an entity depicted or portrayed. Multiple common-separated values allowed.

<isVersionOf>
A reference to a related resource. Version relations are those of which the described comic is a version, edition, or adaptation of another resource by the same creator.

<price>
The cover price of the comic.

<format>
Marvel: Comics come in their single issue format as noted by the word “Comic”, but they’re also sometimes available in “Hardcovers” or “Trade Paperbacks” which generally collect several comics at once.

<language>
Language: The language of the intellectual content of the resource. Accepted values are those in the ISO 639-1 Alpha-2 list (codes composed of 2 letters of the basic Latin alphabet). Examples include “en” for English.

<rating>
Some comic publishers provide a rating: For example, Marvel provides: A is appropriate for ages nine and up, T+ is appropriate for ages 12 and up and Parental Advisory is appropriate for ages 15 and up. Other ratings you may see are self-explanatory.

<rights>
Information on the rights held for the work. Typically the copyright holder.

<identifier>
A way to uniquely identify the resource by means of a string or number conforming to a formal identification system. Most commonly a UPC code or International Standard Book Number (ISBN). The Bar Codes on comic books are actually UPC codes or more fully the comic book UPC code. The UPC code is a way to identify the product which it appears on. The UPC is comprised of the Company Prefix (CP) which is the first 6 to 9 digits, followed by the Item Reference (IR). Additionally comic books will have an additional 5 digits that identify the issue number.

<pages>
Number of pages in a given book.

<creator>
Entity primarily responsible for making the content of the resource.

<writer>
Author. Person or corporate body chiefly responsible for the intellectual or artistic content of a work.

<penciller>
Artist. Use for the person who conceives, and perhaps also implements, a design or illustration, usually to accompany a written text.

<editor>
Use for a person who prepares for publication a work not primarily his/her own, such as by elucidating text, adding introductory or other critical matter, or technically directing an editorial staff.

<coverDesigner>
Person or organization responsible for the graphic design of a book cover, album cover, slipcase, box, container, etc.

<letterer>
Use for a person or organization primarily responsible for choice and arrangement of type used in an item. Variation of “typographer”

<inker>
Use for a person or organization who cuts letters, figures, etc. on a surface, such as a wooden or metal plate, for printing. Varition of “Engraver”

<colorist>
Use for a person or organization responsible for the decoration of a work (especially manuscript material) with precious metals or color, usually with elaborate designs and motifs. Variation of “Illuminator”

<coverImage>
A Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for the image file representing the comic cover. This is usually the image file name. Display devices should supports image in JPEG, GIF, and PNG formats with a RGB color space. The URI must end in “.jpg”, “.gif” or “.png”. Recommend locating image file at the root directory of the archive.

<lastMark>
Location where user most recently ceased reading and where application will resume display when restarted.

<readingDirection>
Specifies the base page flow of the comic. Allowed values are “ltr” (left-to-right) or “rtl” (right-to-left). Japanese Manga intended to be read from right to left would typically designate a “rtl” value. If the attribute is not specified, the value is assumed to be ltr (default).