OpenTFRaw
OpenTFRaw is one of the vendor readers in
OpenMassSpec, a Rust- and
Python-native stack for proteomics raw-file access. Sibling readers:
OpenWRaw (Waters .raw/),
OpenTimsTDF (Bruker .d/).
OpenTFRaw is a Rust library that reads Thermo Fisher .raw
mass-spectrometry files - the binary format produced by Thermo
ion traps, Orbitrap instruments and TSQ triple quadrupoles.
It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, with no dependency on the Thermo
.NET runtime or RawFileReader library. The format was decoded by
binary analysis of a public corpus of mass-spectrometry datasets
(PRIDE accessions); see CORPUS.md.
Optional Python bindings are available via the
opentfraw wheel.
What it covers
| Component | Status |
|---|---|
| File header + audit tags | supported |
| Sample information + sequence row | supported |
| RAW file info + instrument method block | supported |
| Run header (single + multi-controller) | supported |
| Scan index + trailer | supported |
| Scan-data packets (header + flat variants) | supported |
| Scan event hierarchy + filter strings | supported |
| Scan parameters + generic data section | supported |
| Error log + instrument log | supported |
| Device / instrument classification | best-effort |
| Full tune-method block | planned |
Tested format versions: 63, 64 and 66, on files from LTQ ion traps through Orbitrap Astral and TSQ Altis. The reader also has code paths for versions 8, 47, 57, 60 and 62, but the public test corpus has no file of those versions, so they are untested. The README lists known issues and coverage gaps.
Next steps
- Install the Rust crate or the Python package.
- Run through the Quickstart.
- Read the Format specification for the binary layer.
- Browse the API on docs.rs.
License
OpenTFRaw is Apache-2.0 licensed. See License.