New and updated signatures are regularly added to PRONOM, and DROID can be configured to automatically download updated signature files.ĭROID is free and open source software made available under the New BSD License. These signatures are stored in an XML signature file, generated from information recorded in the PRONOM technical registry. Developed by our Digital Preservation department as part of its broader digital preservation activities, DROID is designed to meet the fundamental requirement of any digital repository to be able to identify the precise format of all stored digital objects, and to link that identification to a central registry of technical information about that format and its dependencies.ĭROID uses internal signatures to identify and report the specific file format and version of digital files. DROID is a software tool developed by The National Archives to perform automated batch identification of file formats.