XRD data files, parsed and analyzed — free
What .xye, .raw and .brml XRD files are, why vendor formats differ, and how to view/analyze powder diffraction data — upload to Matflow free, or parse in Python.
Formats: .xye / .xy (two/three-column text), Bruker .raw/.brml, Rigaku .txt, PANalytical .xrdml (XML) · For: Materials & solid-state labs
What the format actually is
Where the data hides, and what a naive parser loses.
Every diffractometer vendor exports its own format: Bruker RAW (binary with versioned headers) and BRML (a zip of XML), Rigaku text exports, PANalytical XRDML (XML), and the community-standard .xye (2θ, I, esd — three-column text from GSAS-II).
The physics is universal — intensity vs 2θ (or d-spacing) — but metadata (scan axis, step size, counting time per step, anode material) is inconsistently preserved, which is exactly what you need for proper peak-shape work later.
Analysis workflows (background subtraction, Kα2 stripping, peak fitting, phase ID against a database) usually span one vendor tool plus Excel plus a plotting script — with no provenance connecting them.
Vendor quirks that break naive parsers
Each of these has produced a silently wrong number in a real workflow.
Do it yourself in Python
We would rather you succeed with or without us. The open-source path:
What happens if you use Matflow
The parser is only step one — the value is the review and the provenance that follow.
Upload on the Ingestion page
Excel, CSV, PDF, SDS images and instrument files are parsed into evidence-tagged rows — the original file is retained as provenance.
Review before promotion
Column roles and types are proposed for a reason; correcting a mislabeled column here is the highest-leverage five minutes in the workflow.
Promote to a governed dataset
The accepted rows become a versioned dataset any stage can use — every row keeps its source and extraction status.
Docs: ingestion & extraction · column roles · instrument parsers
Stop parsing by hand
Upload your .xye / .xy file to Matflow and it lands as a governed, validated dataset — original file preserved as provenance, every column documented. Free tier, no card.
Other formats we parse
This guide covers one of 10 instrument formats.