Knowledge Base

Importing External Data

Import a Complete External Data File at Once

To import an external data file:

1. Choose Setup > Trial List.
2. Click the row for the trial you want to import the data to.
3. Do one of the following: to import data to a specific arena or subject within that trial, right-click that arena or subject and select Import External Data.
4. Next, you can either:
   • Select a predefined Import Profile from the list under Files of type. Next, locate the external data file, select the filename and click Open.
   • Create a new custom import profile.

Notes

• To import specific data sets in an external data file in the Trial List, click the Import External Data button. See Import One or More Specific Data Sets.

See Also

• Create a new custom import profile

Import One or More Specific Data Sets

1. Choose Setup > Import External Data, or in the Trial List, click the Import External Data button.
2. Select a predefined Import Profile from the drop-down list under Files of type. Next, locate the external data file, select the filename and click Open. A second Import External Data window shows one or more Data Set Names. The Trial list also appears.
3. To add external data to a trial, select one or more Data Set rows and drag-and-drop it to the Trial list. You can choose to drag-and-drop external data to a Trial, Arena, or a Subject.
4. Click the Import button in the Import External Data window to finish the import.

EthoVision XT offers predefined Import Profiles for a number of export formats from DAQ systems. If your file type is not in the list, create a Custom Import Profile.

Create a New Custom Import Profile

Aim

To import external data as ASCII files when EthoVision XT does not have a predefined import profile. With an import profile you create a template based on the structure of the external data file.

Prerequisites

• Your license for EthoVision XT includes the External Data Module.
• You exported your external data as ASCII files.

Procedure

1. Choose Setup > Import External Data.
2. Click the Custom Import Profiles button and then the New button.
3. Browse to the external data file.
4. Build the import profile by specifying the structure of the data file. This is done by dragging and dropping cells. To undo a selection, select the cell to which content was dropped and press Delete. Follow the procedure in these sections:
   1. Header
   2. Delimiters
   3. Time Information
   4. Data
5. Import a text file with the new import profile.

1 - Header

EthoVision XT usually automatically detects header and data information in the file. If not, specify which part of the data file contains the header. Choose an option from the Header detection list:

• Automatic (default). EthoVision XT is set to automatically detect the header and data sections in the data file. Choose one of the other options if automatic header detection does not work.
• Specify tag. Select this option if the data file has a variable number of header lines and the header always ends with the same word. Specify the phrase (with either nominal or numerical information) that indicates the end of the header part of the file. If necessary, also specify the number of rows between the header line that contains this phrase and the data. For example, if the header always ends with a line containing the text [Data] and there is always an empty line before the data starts, enter [Data] in the End tag field and 1 in the Extra rows field.
• Specify row number. If the data file always has the same number of rows in the header, select this option and specify the number of header rows.

2 - Delimiters

EthoVision XT uses the comma as the default delimiter to separate text in the header and data sets. However, the data file may have other delimiters. If this is the case, select the correct ones from the Select header delimiters and Select data delimiters lists. You can also select multiple delimiters.

Some DAQ software enables you to select the type of delimiter when saving the DAQ data to an ASCII export file. In that case, select the same delimiter in the File content section of the Profile Definition window. A comma or semicolon are advised as delimiters.

3 - Time Information

Specify which cell or column contains the time information. This can be a column with time stamps, a cell with the sample rate, or a cell with the sample interval, which is the time between samples. Drag and drop the cell or column with time information to the appropriate field in the Profile definition section.

1. Sample rate. If the header contains a cell with the sample rate, select the Sample rate button under Timing based on in the Profile definition section. Drag the cell with the sample rate to the Sample rate box and select the appropriate unit (Hz or kHz) from the list.
2. Sample interval. If the header contains a cell with the sample interval, select the Sample interval button in the Profile definition section. Drag the cell with the sample interval to the Sample interval box. Select the unit of time from the list.
3. Time series. If the header does not contain information on sample rate, select the Time series button under Timing based on. Under Data sets in the File content section, select the column with time stamps and drag this to the Time series box. The column with time stamps now appears grayed. The Select Time Format window opens. If the time matches one of the predefined formats, EthoVision XT automatically selects one. Converted time shows the conversion of the text to time and Conversion is OK. You can also define your own format by typing an H for each number representing hours, an m for minutes, an s for seconds, and an f for each decimal of a second.

Under Import Time, select one of the following options:

• Relative to time zero. If the first row in the imported external data set has time 00:00:05, the time stamp of the first row of the imported data set will remain 00:00:05.
• Relative to the time of the first data line. If the data set you want to import starts at 14:28:00 and has samples every 5 seconds, the first row of the imported data will get the time stamp 00:00:00. The second row will have time stamp 00:00:05. The options under Import Time are grayed out when your time stamps contain the date the file was created, in which case the option Relative to time zero is used.
• Allow timestamps to be non equidistant when the time stamps do not represent regular intervals, for example 0, 490, 572, etc.

4 - Data

Under Data definition in the Profile definition section there are two parts. The lilac part is labeled Header Data, where you drag cells from the lilac Header section. The green part is labeled Raw data, where you drag Data sets from the green cells in the Data sets section.

1. Drag the first column under Data Sets to the first empty cell in the Raw data - Data Set column. As a result, the letter of the original column appears in the cell and the column in the Data Sets section is grayed.
2. Locate the data set name, the unit, and optionally other information in the header, and drag those cells to the Header data cells in the same row. If you drag and drop the Start Date and/or Start Time, a window opens in which you can define the format. Accept the default format, or follow the procedure in step 3 of Time Information to change it.

Multiple Data Sets

1. Follow the procedure above to define the next dataset. Once two datasets are defined, the Validity Check button becomes active.
2. Click this button. EthoVision XT now automatically fills the other rows in the Data definition field.
3. Check that the correct columns are selected.

How the Validity Check Is Applied

EthoVision XT assumes that your header and data set information are ordered in a regular way in your external data file (for example, left to right, with or without empty cells in between). For example, if your external data file contains four Data Sets in columns A, C, E, and G with columns B, D, and F empty, dragging columns A and C to the first two rows in the Raw Data column and clicking the Validity Check button will cause EthoVision XT to automatically assign columns E and G to rows 3 and 4, taking into account the empty columns between Data Sets.

The distance between the columns must be the same. For example, dropping columns A and C and clicking Validity Check works, and columns E, G, I, K, etc. are automatically added to the other rows. Dropping columns A and B and clicking Validity Check also works, and all other columns are automatically added to the other rows. However, dropping A, B, and D and clicking Validity Check does not work, because there is an empty column between B and D but not between A and B.

Data Sets with Missing Samples

If your data set contains missing samples indicated by non-numeric symbols, specify this symbol and select the Treat as number checkbox. Alternatively, click the button next to the Treat as number field to select one or more predefined symbols. To select specific text, click <User Defined>, click OK, and enter this text after a comma. If text is identified by a character, select this from the Text qualifier list.

Save the Import Profile

When all the information is in the Import Profile Definition sheet, click the Save As button and give the profile a name.

Import a Text File with the New Import Profile

The newly created import profile is now in the Files of Type list.

1. Locate the external data file and select the filename.
2. Click Open.

Notes

• A missing sample is converted to a zero. As a result, it is plotted as a zero in the Visualization.
• The import profile is stored with the extension *.eip.

Edit a Custom Import Profile

If you want to import an external data file that is very similar to, but not exactly the same as, another data file for which you already have an Import Profile, you can edit the existing Import Profile.

1. In the Import External Data window, click Custom Import Profiles.
2. Select the Import Profile from the list in the Import Profiles window and click Edit. In the Select Sample File group you see the original sample file behind Profile based on.
3. Click Browse in the Select Sample File group to select the new external data file and click Open.
4. Follow the instructions for Create a New Custom Import Profile.
5. Click Save Profile As when you are finished filling in the Data definition sheet.
6. Type in the name for the Import Profile and click OK. Close the Profile Definition window.
7. Close the Import Profiles window. Make sure you select the right Import Profile.
8. Select the external data file and click Open to finish the import.

Note

• You cannot edit the import profile for European Data Format files.

Examples of Import Profiles

The following DAQ systems and software have predefined import profiles:

• DSI Ponemah 6.40 and DSI DataQuest A.R.T. 4.3
• BIOPAC AcqKnowledge 4.4
• Doric
• Polar Precision Performance 4.0
• European Data Format files
• Noldus UltraVox XT 3