Knowledge Base

In The Observer XT

1. Under Observation Source select Live.
2. In the Devices window that appears, click Add external program.
3. In the Add External Program window, under Name, enter a title (for example Control UltraVox XT).
4. Select Start Observation. Next, click and select the batch file StartUV - 2 PCs.bat.
5. Select Stop Observation. Next, click and select the batch file StopUV - 2 PCs.bat.

For how to edit the batch files, see Edit the StartUV/StopUV Batch Files.

6. Click OK.

In UltraVox XT

1. Choose Setup > Trial Control Settings.
2. Under Start acquisition and Stop acquisition, select External program trigger.

See also

• Trigger Start/Stop Recording
• Edit the StartUV/StopUV Batch Files

Co-Acquisition of Data

Aim: To acquire UltraVox XT data together with EthoVision XT or The Observer XT data.

Procedure

Follow the instructions that apply to your software (EthoVision XT or The Observer XT).

1. In UltraVox XT, open the acquisition screen. In EthoVision XT, open the acquisition screen. In The Observer XT, create a new observation.
2. In EthoVision XT, start the trial and release the animal in the arena. In The Observer XT, start the observation.
3. On the EthoVision XT/The Observer XT computer, the software activates the batch file. The file start.txt is sent to the Sync folder on the UltraVox XT computer. When this occurs, UltraVox XT detects the file and starts recording.
4. In EthoVision XT, after a fixed time, the trial stops automatically depending on the Time condition specified in the Trial Control rule (Trigger settings for EthoVision XT). In The Observer XT, stop the observation. In both cases, this stops recording in UltraVox XT.
5. In UltraVox XT, detect and label the calls.
6. In UltraVox XT, export the call data to EthoVision XT or The Observer XT. See Export Call Statistics.
7. In EthoVision XT or The Observer XT, import the call data.

See also

• Export Call Statistics
• Import Call Data in The Observer XT
• Import Call Data in EthoVision XT
• Import Profiles

EthoVision XT

To import UltraVox XT data into EthoVision XT, you must have the import profile UltraVox 3/4.

The import profile is installed on C:\ProgramData\Noldus\Common\Profiles.

Note: If you do not see the C:\ProgramData folder, it may be hidden. To view hidden folders:

1. In the Windows Control Panel, choose Appearance and Personalization, then under Folder Options click Show Hidden Files and Folders.
2. In the window that appears, under Hidden files and folders, select Show hidden files, folders and drives.

For information on how to import UltraVox XT data, see the EthoVision XT Help.

The Observer XT

To import UltraVox XT data into The Observer XT, you do not need an import profile. Just export the call statistics in UltraVox XT in The Observer XT format (*.odx), and import the export file into The Observer XT.

To Access the Trial Control Settings

1. Choose Setup > Trial Control Settings.
2. Choose one of the options below for Start acquisition and Stop acquisition.

Start Acquisition

• Manually — To start acquisition when you click the Start recording button in the Acquisition screen.
• External program trigger — Choose this option to start acquisition when a file is detected in a specific location (default: C:\ProgramData\Noldus\UltraVox\XT 4\Synch). To test the external program trigger option, see the note below. Choose this option to control UltraVox XT recording from EthoVision XT or The Observer XT.

Stop Acquisition

• Manually — To stop acquisition when you click the Stop recording button in the Acquisition screen.
• External program trigger — To stop acquisition when a file is detected in a specific location (default: C:\ProgramData\Noldus\UltraVox\XT 4\Synch). To test the external program trigger option, see the note below. Choose this option to control UltraVox XT recording from EthoVision XT or The Observer XT.
• After ... minutes — To stop acquisition after a fixed time has elapsed. Maximum recording time is 99 minutes.

Note

To test the external program trigger, do the following:

Copy a text file named start.txt or stop.txt to the destination folder (default: C:\ProgramData\Noldus\UltraVox\XT 4\Synch). If you want to change this folder, click the [...] button and select the new folder path.

When the file is copied, a message appears:

• In the case you copied the start.txt file, a start message appears.
• When you copy the stop.txt file, a stop message appears.

Tip: To retrieve the current destination folder for the start/stop files, click the Copy button to copy the folder path to the clipboard.

See also

• Control UltraVox XT from Other Software
• Trigger Settings for EthoVision XT
• Trigger Settings for The Observer XT

To Import the Data

In The Observer XT, do one of the following:

• To import a recording as a separate observation: Choose File > Import > Observational Data.
• To import a recording into an existing observation: Open that observation and click the Import data button.

Next, follow the instructions on the screen.

Coding Scheme

In The Observer XT coding scheme, calls are imported as discrete events, each consisting of a state event (call name) and a modifier (pattern label).

State events are listed in one Start-stop group named Calls. Call events with different names can be overlapping.

• If a call was labeled in UltraVox XT before exporting, the corresponding state event is attached to the modifier with the same name as the label.
• Modifiers are listed in a group named Pattern.

Data in the Event Log

In the event log, calls are represented with two rows, one marking the call start time and one marking the stop time.

Data Visualization

When visualizing the observation, calls are shown as colored segments on the timeline. Click the + sign next to the headers to view the calls with their pattern labels.

The audio data is displayed as a waveform. For more information, see the EthoVision XT Help.

To Import Call Data

1. In EthoVision XT, open the Trial List.
2. Click the Import External Data button.
3. Under Files of type, select UltraVox XT [version number]. If you do not see this profile, install it from the UltraVox XT installation USB stick.
4. Select the *.etx files and click Open.
5. Drag the data lines from the Import External Data window to the trial you require.
6. When ready, click Import.

Data for each call name (or call name * pattern label) is imported and resampled as a separate dependent variable.

For more information on importing and analyzing external data, see the EthoVision XT Help.

Analysis Profile

For each call type imported, the analysis profile shows two dependent variables: the continuous (resampled) and the state variable. The state variable has discrete values 0 and 1 derived from the resampled variable.

For example, you exported calls of type 52-65 kHz (call name) labeled with Chevron (label name). To analyze those calls you have two options:

• Click the button next to the variable you want to analyze, and choose the type of upsampling/downsampling you require.

Source: UltraVox XT 4 - EthoVision and Observer Integration, Noldus Information Technology