About
IGL was designed and written by Colin Ferrari, a geochemist working on isotopic traceability.
The greatest lack of isotope geochemistry is not measure-related. Instruments work well, analysis are precise enough. However, as a global isotope community, it is difficult to effectively exchange and compare data, models or methods. The idea behind IGL is simple, to give to the community its own model language which can easily be read, understood and exchanged without specific softwares and which is sufficiant on its own.
So the aim here is clear: I do not want to replace something which already exists. Tools like PHREEQC work well and are already established as standards. So IGL is not designed to replace them, but rather to work with them and extend their capabilities.
Contact: colin.ferrari@igl-lang.org
Source code: https://github.com/ColinFerrari/igl
What IGL is not
It is not a solver, and it will not choose fractionation factors for you. The engine works out what your model states. Where your model states nothing, a database may have an answer, and where a database has two answers the run stops instead of picking one. Which factor applies is a question for the literature, and no file format is going to settle it. Most of recent softwares wants to simplify the process for the users and in case of two answers possible, will pick one of them. IGL is designed to take the opposite direction, and will never replace the expert. Rather, it will always give you the different sources so you can make the best choice for your case.
It is not owned by anyone either. The specification is published under CC-BY-4.0 so that somebody else can write an engine by reading a document rather than reading this one's source code.
Licensing
| What | Licence |
|---|---|
| The specification and the file formats | CC-BY-4.0 |
| The programs and the test suite | MIT |
| The fractionation databases | CC-BY-4.0, each entry citing its own source |
About the signature on the downloads
Windows often requires binaries to be signed with a trust certificate to avoid being blocked by its antivirus (e.g. Windows Defender). To prevent it, I signed IGL binaries with my own certificate (under the name IsoFind). It does not mean that I am the owner of IGL or that any other certificate from other compilations will be less valid. Feel free to compile and sign your distributed version of IGL with your own certificate if needed.
Citing IGL
If a model or a result of yours depends on the language, cite the version it was written against:
Ferrari, C. Isotope Geochemistry Language (IGL), version 0.5. https://github.com/ColinFerrari/igl
A fractionation factor given by a database should be cited from its own source. IGDB databases ALWAYS carry sources for each one of their entries.