DebateXML is an XML schema for the storage and analysis of data from parliamentary debating formats, designed to be very flexible and generalizable to various formats. DebateXML export is currently available in MIT-Tab (American Parliamentary), with patches available for Tabbie2 (British Parliamentary) and Tabbycat, including import.
The schema is available as the file spec.xsd
. An enumeration of debating formats for reference when designing the format is also available.
A proposal for such a format was made by Philip Belesky and Chuan-Zheng Lee in 2015, and thereafter designed and implemented by Étienne Beaulé in 2019. This is the Monash Debating Review article describing the motivation for this specification: Philip Belesky and Chuan-Zheng Lee, "The Start of History", Monash Debating Review vol. 13, 2015
Contributions are welcomed and encouraged. Discussion about its use and the specifications can be found and created over at the Issues section, please do join in, especially if you have familiarity with debating styles not already represented.
Documents in the repository record the current state of the specifications.