# Data file details

Gretl Manual: Gnu Regression, Econometrics and Time-series Library
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# Appendix A. Data file details

# Basic native format

In `gretl`'s native data format, a data set is stored in XML (extensible mark-up language). Data files correspond to the simple DTD (document type definition) given in `gretldata.dtd`, which is supplied with the `gretl` distribution and is installed in the system data directory (e.g. `/usr/share/gretl/data` on Linux.) Data files may be plain text or gzipped. They contain the actual data values plus additional information such as the names and descriptions of variables, the frequency of the data, and so on.

Most users will probably not have need to read or write such files other than via `gretl` itself, but if you want to manipulate them using other software tools you should examine the DTD and also take a look at a few of the supplied practice data files: `data4-1.gdt` gives a simple example; `data4-10.gdt` is an example where observation labels are included.

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Changes from Ramanathan's ESL |  | Traditional ESL format