Knowledge Base

Export Trial Control Data

Choose between two ways to export the Trial Control data, depending on the file structure you require.

• As dependent variables. Data are saved to additional columns of the track data file, and each sample point receives a "0" or "1" depending on whether a state (or event) is active at that time.
• As a Trial Control log. Data are written to a separate file, where all events that occurred during the trial (also those not included in the Analysis Profile) are stored as lines each with a time stamp.

To Export Trial Control Data as Dependent Variables

1. Define Trial Control events and states in the Analysis profile (see Hardware and Advanced in the Analysis profile).
2. Choose Analysis > Export > Raw Data. Select Track & dependent variables then click Start Export.

To Export Trial Control Data as a Trial Control Log

1. Choose Analysis > Export > Raw Data.
2. Select Trial Control log and click Start Export.

The Trial Control log file contains the following columns:

• Trial time and Recording time. See Reading the Raw Data File for the difference.
• Event. The type of trial control event. For an explanation of the terms, see How the Trial Control Instructions Are Executed.
• Rule, Condition, Action, Operator, Reference. The Trial Control element that is involved in the event described in the corresponding Event cell.
• Variable, Value. The variable that is subject to an action, and the new value assigned to the variable.
• Reference1...4, Repeat1...4. Marks the time that a sub-rule is active. Repeat indicates the number of times that sub-rule has been repeated up to that time.

To export log files of the hardware devices operated during the trial, select also the Hardware log option. For more information, see Analysis of Trial Control Data in the EthoVision XT 19 - Trial and Hardware Control - Reference Manual.

Import Data into Excel

To Import Analysis Results

Analysis results here refers to the table in the Trial Statistics or Group Statistics tabs.

1. Export the statistics result, with Excel as format.
2. Open the file in Excel.

To Import EthoVision XT Raw Data and Dependent Variables

1. Export the raw data (track and dependent variables).
2. Open the file in Excel.

Import Manually Scored Data into The Observer XT

Aim

To analyze the events scored manually in EthoVision XT in The Observer XT, for further analysis.

Prerequisite

In EthoVision XT, export the data in the form of Manual scoring log (for details see Export Manually-Scored Behaviors). Before clicking Start Export, select Manual Scoring log; select one of the Text options as export format, and select semicolon (;) as Delimiter. To export a subset of tracks or subjects, filter the data before exporting.

Procedure

1. Open the export file in the Windows Notepad.
2. Remove the lines from "Experiment" to "" so that the first line of the file contains "Header Lines" and the second "Trial time".
3. Change the number of header lines to 2, then save and close the file.
4. In The Observer XT, create a project or open an existing one. Make sure that the project's coding scheme contains exactly the same behavior names and that these are organized in the same groups (mutually-exclusive or start-stop) as the corresponding behaviors scored in EthoVision XT. See Effects on the Coding Scheme below.
5. Choose File > Import Observational Data.
6. From the Files of type list, select EthoVision XT Data File (*.txt). EthoVision XT Data File is an import profile made for manual scoring logs exported from EthoVision XT. It is installed automatically when you install The Observer XT.

Importing Data From EthoVision XT Into The Observer XT

1. If you do not have the EthoVision XT import profile, click Create New and follow the steps below.
2. Select the file you want to import and click Open.
3. Repeat the procedure for the remaining export files (remember that each trial and arena results in a separate export file).
4. Choose Setup > Independent Variables. Define the independent variables and enter the values of those variables for the trials you have imported.

To Create an Import Profile in The Observer XT

In the Import Profile Definition window, drag the columns of the Data Sets box as shown here:

• Time. Drag the column B (Recording time) to the Time column. This is the time of manually scored behaviors relative to the time that tracking started. In the Select Time Format window, if the time matches one of the predefined formats, EthoVision XT automatically selects one. Converted time shows the converted time and Conversion is OK. Click OK.
• You can also define your own format by typing an 'H' for each number representing 'hour', an 'm' for 'minute', an 's' for second, and an 'f' for each number representing millisecond. If Conversion is OK, then click OK.
• Under Import Time, select one of the options:
  • Relative to time zero. Suppose the first row in the imported external data set has time 00:00:05. When the option Relative to time zero is selected, 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. Suppose the data set you want to import starts at 14:28:00 and samples every 5 seconds. With the option Relative to the time of the first data line, 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 this case the option Relative to time zero is used.
• Do not drag the column A (Trial time) as this provides the same timing as column B when imported into The Observer.
• The predefined import profile EthoVision XT Data File uses the Recording time as the time code for the manually scored behaviors.
• Event Type. Drag the E column and click OK in the window that appears.
• If you want to import video in The Observer, you must keep the correct sync between events and video. See To Import Video in The Observer XT below.