<p>VOTable is an XML-based format for tabular data endorsed by the
<a href="http://www.ivoa.net/">International Virtual Observatory Alliance</a>
and defined in the
<a href="http://www.ivoa.net/documents/VOTable/">VOTable Recommendation</a>.
While the tabular data which can be encoded is by design close to
what FITS allows, it provides for much richer encoding of structure
and metadata.
Most of the table data exchanged by VO services is in VOTable format,
but it can be used for local table storage as well.
</p>

<p>When a table is saved to VOTable format, a document conforming to the
VOTable specification containing a single TABLE element within
a single RESOURCE element is written.
Where the table contains such information
(often obtained by reading an input VOTable),
column and table metadata will be written out as appropriate to
the attributes
<code>unit</code>, <code>ucd</code>, <code>xtype</code> and <code>utype</code>,
and the elements
<code>COOSYS</code>, <code>TIMESYS</code> and <code>DESCRIPTION</code>
attached to table columns or parameters.
</p>

<p>There are various ways that a VOTable can be written;
by default the output serialization format is TABLEDATA
and the VOTable format version is 1.4, or a value controlled
by the <code>votable.version</code> system property.
However, configuration options are available to adjust these defaults.
</p>
