Documentation

For information on obtaining SDA software and services, see the SDA Software and Services page.

For video tutorials on using the SDA 4.x user interface see the SDA YouTube Channel.

Documentation and resources for developers of SDA Web archives

SDA Installation Guide (PDF format)

The SDA Installation Guide is the first thing that all SDA archive developers should read. It provides a tutorial-style introduction to setting up an SDA archive on your server.

• 4.1.6 Installation Guide (Last updated June 28, 2025. SDA 4.1.6 was released in June 2025.)

• 4.1.5 Installation Guide (Last updated May 30, 2024. SDA 4.1.5 was released in June 2024.)

• 4.1.4 Installation Guide (Last updated Sept. 13, 2023. SDA 4.1.4 was released in August 2023.)

• 4.1.3 Installation Guide (Last updated Feb. 27, 2022. SDA 4.1.3 was released in June 2021.)

SDA Manual (HTML format)

The SDA Manual contains in-depth information on the options available for each SDA program and the syntax rules for various important SDA file formats -- such as DDL (SDA's metadata format).

• SDA 4.1 Manual

Other SDA Documentation and Resources

• DDI to DDL Conversion Service. This online service on our site converts data description files in the format of the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) Version 2 to files in the format of SDA's metadata (DDL).

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End-of-Life SDA Software

SDA software that is no longer distributed or updated:

• SDA 3.5: Archive Developer's Guide, Manual

• SDA Quick Tables (documentation not available)

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