Knowledge Base

Problem

EthoVision XT fails to export analyzed data from an experiment, with no clear error message, when the analysis profile contains parameters that reference zones which are no longer defined or were never set up in the current experiment.

Details

When an analysis profile is created with zone-based parameters (e.g., 'Time in zone,' 'Frequency in zone') and then applied to an experiment where those zones do not exist or have been renamed/deleted, EthoVision cannot resolve the zone references and the export fails. This can happen when analysis profiles are shared between experiments with different arena setups, or when zones are modified after the analysis profile was created.

Solution

1. Open the experiment in EthoVision XT and navigate to the Analysis Profile.
2. Review all parameters in the profile and identify any that reference zones (e.g., 'Time in zone [ZoneName]').
3. Check whether the referenced zone names match the zones actually defined in the current experiment's arena setup.
4. If zones are missing or misnamed:
a. Either add the missing zones to the arena definition using the correct names, OR
b. Remove or update the zone-based parameters in the analysis profile to reference the zones that are defined.
5. Save the updated analysis profile.
6. Re-run the analysis and attempt the export again.

Tip: When reusing analysis profiles across experiments, always verify that zone names in the profile exactly match zone names in the target experiment's arena definition.