DIGGS Version 3.0 Released: Enhanced Capabilities for Geotechnical Data Exchange

The DIGGS Technical Committee is pleased to announce the release of DIGGS v3.0, bringing significant enhancements to the geotechnical data exchange format. This new version introduces important improvements to interoperability, expanded capabilities for specialized applications, and a streamlined architecture that will benefit both software developers and end users.

What's Driving the Change?

The release of DIGGS v3.0 codifies incremental changes to the DIGGS development schema that has occurred over the last ~15 months in response to real-world needs identified through industry use and feedback. Key drivers for this update include:

Improved Interoperability: Insights from the 2025 DIGGS Hack-a-thon revealed opportunities to constrain encoding options and reduce ambiguity, making it easier for different software systems to exchange data reliably
Better Maintainability: Enhanced internal documentation and reorganized schema modules make the standard easier to understand, implement, and maintain
Expanded Capabilities: New support for emerging workflows including geophysical surveys, pile installations, and measurement-while-drilling (MWD) operations

Major Enhancements in Version 3.0

Improved Schema Organization

DIGGS v3.0 features a completely reorganized set of schema files, with better-documented, modular components. The schema has been split into focused modules including:

Core modules: Abstract Type, Common, Core, and Measure Type modules provide the foundation
Specialized modules: New dedicated modules for linear and local spatial referencing, deep foundations, grouting, geophysics, and extended features
Smaller, more manageable files: The modular approach makes it easier for developers to understand and implement specific capabilities

Core DIGGS Profile

A new "Core Geotechnical Profile", a subset of the full DIGGS schema, has been defined to support the most common geotechnical data exchange scenarios:

Existing ("as-built") boreholes, soundings, and trial pits
Soil and rock sampling and descriptions
Common laboratory and in-situ test procedures and results
Basic equipment and specimen information

This profile provides a clear starting point for basic implementations, while maintaining extensibility for specialized applications.

Enhanced Measurement Framework

Unified time-series structure: All time-series measurements (general monitoring, pile driving, grouting activities, MWD) now follow a single, consistent structure
Improved Units of Measure (UoM) support: A new online Unit of Measurement Dictionary that supports unit conversions and specialized geotechnical units
Better observation handling: Interoperability improvements for observations and measurement procedures

Spatial Reference Improvements

Engineering Coordinate Reference System (CRS) support: CRS definitions (including an enhanced Cartesian CRS definition) can now be included in a DIGGS instance, making it easier to incorporate local, project-specific coordinate systems within DIGGS.
Enhanced linear referencing: Improved framework for referencing locations along linear features like boreholes or transects, including relative referencing from a referent, handling stretched/compressed core samples, and referencing via station/offset.
Reduced gml:id requirements: Simplified requirements for GML identifiers where they're not essential

New Domain Support

Version 3.0 expands DIGGS capabilities to include:

Pile driving and PDA records: Support for transfer of pile installation and PDA records
Geophysical field surveys: Metadata and raw data support for geophysical survey work
Measurement While Drilling (MWD): Data exchange for MWD operations and measurements

Understanding Backward Compatibility

DIGGS Version 3.0 is not backward compatible with version 2.6. This was a deliberate decision to enable the improvements and standardization that were necessary. However, the impact has been carefully managed and the vast majority of commonly used v2.6 objects will validate under v3.0 without modification. Most non-compatible changes fall into these categories:

Constraining best practices: Well-coded 2.6 instances following best practices will require minimal, if any, changes
Specialty features: Most breaking changes affect specialty objects (grouting, geophysics) that have seen limited implementation in v2.6.

Migration effort will likely be minimal for most implementations. To aid in migration, comprehensive documentation of all changes is available on the Version 3.0.0 release page. The DIGGS technical team is also developing XSLT stylesheets to assist in converting legacy 2.6 instances to version 3.0. The DIGGS Technical Committee is also available to assist with migration questions.

Getting Started with DIGGS v3.0

Schema files: Available for download from the Version 3.0.0 release page or directly referenceable at https://diggsml.org/schemas/3.0.0
Schema Documentation: Comprehensive documentation at https://diggsml.org/docs/3.0
Example Instances: Example files in v 3.0 format can be found at https://github.com/DIGGSml/diggs-examples/tree/master/3.x%20Example%20Instances
Community support: Join the DIGGS effort to participate in DIGGS' development:
- Github: Contribute to our repositories at https://github.com/DIGGSml
- Monthly Meetings: Join our monthly online discussions where we tackle all DIGGS-related issues. Contact Allen Cadden (acadden@schnabel-eng.com) or Ross Cutts (rcutts@schnabel-eng.com) to receive meeting invites.

Looking Ahead

DIGGS v3.0 represents a significant maturation of the standard, balancing the needs of existing users with the requirements of new applications and improved interoperability. The DIGGS Technical Committee strongly recomments migration to the v 3.0 standard to not only take advantage of its new capabilties, but to also future-proof legacy data archives.

Learn more about DIGGS at https://geoinstitute.org/special-projects/diggs