SoftWare Hash IDentifier: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Software identifier}}

{{Draft topics|linguistics|software|computing|technology}}

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{{AFC comment|1=In accordance with Wikipedia's [[Wikipedia:Conflict of interest|Conflict of interest policy]], I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. <!--Comment automatically added by the Article Wizard--> [[User:AbcSxyZ|AbcSxyZ]] ([[User talk:AbcSxyZ|talk]]) 16:33, 25 May 2025 (UTC)}}

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{{Stub|Information science}}

{{Infobox identifier

| name =

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| number =

| start_date =

| organisation = [[Software Heritage]]

| digits =

| check_digit =

| example = [https://archive.softwareheritage.org/swh:1:dir:df32c75242bf8d797ccd43af8ce8e294f35cd8fd swh:1:dir:df32c75242bf8d797ccd43af8ce8e294f35cd8fd]

| website = https://www.{{official website|name=swhid.org/}}

}}

The '''''SoftWare Hash IDentifier''''' ('''SWHID''') is a persistent identifier used to uniquely identify a particular piece of software [[source code]] and its version. SWHID is a standard similar to the [[Digital Object Identifier|DOI]], but is tailored specifically for software source code,<ref name="ProgrammingHistorianFr_preserving_identifying" /> compatible with versioning software such as [[git]].

The '''''SoftWare Hash IDentifier''''' ('''SWHID''') is a [[persistent identifier]] used to uniquely identify a particular piece of software [[source code]] and its version. SWHID is a standard similar to the [[Digital Object Identifier|DOI]], but is tailored specifically for software source code,<ref name="ProgrammingHistorianFr_preserving_identifying" /> compatible with versioning software such as [[git]].

An SWHID can be used to point to different components or versions of the source code of a software package.<ref name="ProgrammingHistorianFr_preserving_identifying" /> This is an intrinsic identifier that can be calculated independently on the software itself<ref>{{Cite web |language=en |title=Intrinsic and Extrinsic identifiers |url=https://www.softwareheritage.org/2020/07/09/intrinsic-vs-extrinsic-identifiers/ |website=Software Heritage |access-date=2025-05-24}}</ref>.

An SWHID can be used to point to different components or versions of the source code of a software package.<ref name="ProgrammingHistorianFr_preserving_identifying" /> ThisThe SWHID is an intrinsic identifier in the sense that canit bedescribes calculatedthe independentlysoftware based only on the software's itselfintrinsic properties, with no reliance on an external register.<ref>{{Cite web |language=en |title=Intrinsic and Extrinsic identifiers |url=https://www.softwareheritage.org/2020/07/09/intrinsic-vs-extrinsic-identifiers/ |website=Software Heritage |access-date=2025-05-24}}</ref>.

== Format ==

The SWHID specification, maintained by Software Heritage,<ref name="UNESCO_archiving_open">{{cite Q|Q134581397|url-status=live}}</ref> allows identifying different components of software source code. Object types relating to the [[software versioning|software version]] are labelled as "snapshot", "release" or "revision"; a "directory" of files and possibly subdirectories can be identified; and a specific piece of a specific version of source code can be labelled as "content".<ref name="ProgrammingHistorianFr_preserving_identifying">{{cite Q|Q134581061|url-status=live|trans-title=Preserving and identifying research software with Software Heritage}}</ref> These are related to one another in a [[Merkle tree|Merkle]] [[directed acyclic graph]].<ref name="DiCosmo_Gruenpeter_Zacchiroli_2018">{{cite Q|Q105094730|url-status=live}}</ref>

The identifier has the following syntax:<ref name="SWHID_tracking_past" />

<syntaxhighlight lang="noneunixconfig">

swh:<scheme_version>:<object_type>:<object_id>[;qualifiers]

</syntaxhighlight>

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According to the [[French National Centre for Scientific Research]] (CNRS), software source code archived with SWHIDs includes the source codes of [[Apollo 11]] navigation and of the [[NCSA Mosaic]] web browser.<ref name="CNRS_supports" />

Version 3.0 of the Linux kernel, released in July 2011, has the following SWHID:<ref>{{Cite web |language=en |title=Release v3.0 of torvalds/linux repository |url=https://archive.softwareheritage.org/browse/release/4204bcde7c0b93c5e127eb868e17b337a513cf34/?origin_url=https://github.com/torvalds/linux&release=v3.0&snapshot=130eecc6bd74794737bb078fe5c3fadd034eddcc |website=Software Heritage |access-date=2025-05-24}}</ref>:

<codesyntaxhighlight lang="text">swh:1:dir:df32c75242bf8d797ccd43af8ce8e294f35cd8fd</codesyntaxhighlight>

The following example, drawn from the specification documentation,<ref>{{Cite web |language=en |title=Qualified identifiers |url=https://www.swhid.org/specification/v1.2/6.Qualified_identifiers/ |website=swhid.org |access-date=2025-05-27}}</ref> illustrates the use of multiple qualifiers in an SWHID:

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">

swh:1:cnt:4d99d2d18326621ccdd70f5ea66c2e2ac236ad8b;origin=https://gitorious.org/ocamlp3l/ocamlp3l_cvs.git;visit=swh:1:snp:d7f1b9eb7ccb596c2622c4780febaa02549830f9;anchor=swh:1:rev:2db189928c94d62a3b4757b3eec68f0a4d4113f0;path=/Examples/SimpleFarm/simplefarm.ml;lines=9-15

</syntaxhighlight>

== Standards ==

SWHID is an open standard licensed under the Community Specification License.<ref>{{Cite web |language=en |title=Copyright Section of SWHID Specification v1.2 |url=https://www.swhid.org/specification/v1.2/ |access-date=2025-05-24}}</ref>.

SWHID was formalized as the ISO 18670 standard in April 2025.<ref name="ISO18670">{{Cite web |language=en |title=ISO/IEC 18670:2025 |url=https://www.iso.org/standard/89985.html |website=ISO |access-date=2025-05-24}}</ref>.

== Creation and history ==

The SoftWare Hash IDentifier was developed by [[Software Heritage]]. Software Heritage's archives, identified by their SWHIDs, were publicly released starting in 2018.<ref name="CNRS_supports">{{cite Q|Q134581205|url-status=live|trans-title=The CNRS supports Software Heritage}}</ref>

{{as of|2020}}, SWHIDs were in use for about nine billion versions of pieces of software,<ref name="CNRS_supports" /> termed "artefacts".<ref name="SWHID_tracking_past">{{cite Q|Q134580517|url-status=live}}</ref> SWHIDs are integrated with research repositories including [[HAL (open archive)|HAL]], [[Zenodo]] and the French catalog of Academic Research Free Software.<ref>{{Cite web |language=en |title=About the site |url=https://logiciels.catalogue-esr.fr/readme |website=French Catalog of Academic Research Free Software |access-date=2025-05-24}}</ref> The identifier can be used by [[package manager]]s. [[GNU Guix|Guix]] uses SWHIDs to retrieve source code in a software archive when unavailable at its original URL.<ref>{{Cite web |language=en |title=Identifying software |url=https://guix.gnu.org/fr/blog/2024/identifying-software |website=GNU Guix Blog |access-date=2025-05-27}}</ref>

The acronym SWHID originally referred to "Software Heritage Identifiers" used to catalog software artifacts in the early days of the [[Software Heritage]] archive.<ref>{{Cite web |language=en |title=SoftWare Hash IDentifier (SWHID) |url=https://www.softwareheritage.org/software-hash-identifier-swhid/ |website=Software Heritage |access-date=2025-05-24}}</ref>. It later evolved into an open standard through a dedicated working group<ref>{{Cite web |language=en |title=SWHID working group |url=https://www.swhid.org/ |access-date=2025-05-24}}</ref> and was standardized as ISO in April 2025 under the more general name "Software Hash Identifier".<ref>{{Cite web |language=en |title=ISO/IEC 18670:2025 |url=https://www.iso.org/standard/89985.html |website=ISO |access-date=2025-05-24}}</ref>

[[Télécom Paris]] welcomed the ISO normalization arguing that it is a significant step in global digital infrastructure, providing traceability of software affected by vulnerabilities.<ref name="TelecomParis_significant_advance">{{cite Q|Q134580605|url-status=live|trans-title=A significant advance for global digital infrastructure: the ISO/IEC 18670 standard is now official}}</ref> UNESCO stated that SWHID is useful for the reproducibility and long-term accessibility of software.<ref>{{cite nameQ|Q134581397|url-status="UNESCO_archiving_open" live}}</ref>

== References ==

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== External links ==

* [https://www.swhid.org {{Official website]}}

* [https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/en/#iso:std:iso-iec:18670:ed-1:v1:en ISO/IEC 18670:2025 Specification v1.2]

{{ISO standards}}

{{Stub|[[Category:Information science}}]]

[[Category:Unique identifiers]]

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