The .e3d file format is an method of storing Inspect3D export settings as XML, ensuring that they are both human- and machine-readable. Inspect3D allows users to save export settings from the Export Results dialog. Previously-saved export settings can also be loaded and used from this dialog.

As an XML document, an .e3d file is made up of hierarchical elements that are demarcated by tags, indicated by the < and > characters. An element consists of a start tag, <elementname>, and end tag, </elementname>, and all of the characters in between. Alternatively, an element can be defined by a single tag, <elementname />.

Tags can also contain attributes in the name=“value” format, further describing the associated element.

1. The top-level element in an .e3d file is exportFiles. It contains one folderpath element, one or more exportFileelements, and one I3D_Info element.

2. The folderPath element has a single attribute, path which is the path to the folder to which all of the exported files will be saved.

3. The exportFile elements each describe a single exported file. These have a single attribute, name, which is the name of exported file. These also contain two elements: exportData and settings.

4. The exportData element records the position of the active plot, whether all groups and workspaces were selected, and provides a list of selected groups and a list of selected workspaces. This element is not read in when applying export settings again, but it provides a potentially useful record of the original export.

5. The settings element records the specific settings from the Export Results dialog. Only those settings from the active Export_Type will be included.

6. The I3D_Info element has a single attribute, version which is the version of Inspect3D used to create the .e3d file. This can be used for troubleshooting if the format of an .e3d file changes in the future.

Formally, an .e3d file respects the Document Type Definition (DTD):

<!DOCTYPE exportFiles [
  <!ELEMENT exportFiles (folderpath,exportFile+,I3D_Info)>
  <!ELEMENT folderpath ()>
  <!ATTLIST folderpath path CDATA #REQUIRED>
  <!ELEMENT exportFile (exportData,settings)>
  <!ELEMENT exportData ()>
  <!ATTLIST exportData col  CDATA #REQUIRED
    exportData row CDATA #REQUIRED
    exportData SelAllGrp CDATA #REQUIRED
    exportData SelAllWrkspc CDATA #REQUIRED
    exportData SelGrps CDATA #REQUIRED
    exportData SelWrspcs CDATA #REQUIRED
  >
  <!ELEMENT settings ()>
  <!ATTLIST settings Export_Type CDATA #REQUIRED
    settings Export_Data CDATA #REQUIRED
    settings Group_Mean CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Group_StdDev CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Wrksp_Mean CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Wrkspc_StdDev CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Normalized_Sequences CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings TimeBased_Sequences CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Normalized_Events CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Original_Events CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Normalized_Points CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Wrkspc_Scores CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Group_Scores CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Group_Scores_StdDev CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Variance_Explained CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Eigenvectors CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Mean_1SD CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Mean_5_and_95 CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Calculate_metrics_for CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Mean CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings StdDev CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Min CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Min_StdDev CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Min_Event CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Max CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Max_StdDev CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Max_Event CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Add_Metrics_Column CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Use_Normalized_Data CDATA #IMPLIED
    settings Precision CDATA #REQUIRED
    settings Export_Format CDATA #REQUIRED
  >
  <!ELEMENT I3D_Info ()>
  <!ATTLIST I3D_Info version CDATA #REQUIRED>
]>