The NFDI4Chem Converter Service
The NFDI4Chem Converter Service establishes a unified framework for the deployment of modular, chemistry-specific data converters, thereby facilitating streamlined data transformation, validation, and compliance with open standards. Developed using Flask and conforming to the OpenAPI specification, the service exposes a RESTful API to enable seamless integration with other components of the NFDI4Chem infrastructure. Its deployment is optimized through containerization as a Docker image, complemented by Helm charts to support efficient orchestration within Kubernetes environments. At present, a converter for mass spectrometry data is available, distributed via Docker and Helm to ensure reproducibility and ease of integration. Future iterations will extend support to additional data formats.
To support interactive testing, a dedicated web-based graphical user interface (GUI) has been developed, leveraging the REST API to ensure cohesive functionality. In alignment with the overarching vision of NFDI4Chem and in response to emerging community requirements, forthcoming enhancements will focus on the extraction of metadata from converted files and its alignment with the Minimum Information for Chemical Investigation (MIChI) schema. This initiative is expected to significantly improve the quality of data deposited in research repositories and advance the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles within chemical data management.
