Import

The Import option in the File menu is used to read a new data table into the program from a disk-based file. The supported file formats include ASCII, Excel, Lotus, Quattro, SigmaPlot, SPSS, Systat, WAV, DIF, and dBase. This option will read each data point directly into the data table.

Decimating and Averaging

To import every nth point starting at a specified index, use the Import Decimate option instead. To average the new set with the existing data, use the Append, Append Digital Filter, or Append Clipboard options.

X and Y Column Selection

A column selection procedure is offered for the multi-column ASCII, Excel, Lotus, Quattro Pro, SigmaPlot, dBase, SPSS, Systat, and multi-column DIF import formats.

Basic Titles

In all import procedures, you will be offered a main, X, and Y title. You may accept or edit these basic titles. If you press Previous Titles in the titles entry dialog, the titles present prior to the import, if any, are restored.

Import vs. Open

To conserve memory, AutoSignal does not include an Open option. A spreadsheet is opened only long enough to retrieve the necessary data vectors and immediately closed. The only exception to holding a file open is an automation session that uses an Excel data source. In this case, memory permitting, the Excel file will be maintained in memory until all of the data sets are processed.

If you need to reaccess the same file, the Previous Files list at the bottom of the File menu can be used to immediately reopen the file for importing a different data set.

Processing Similar Data Sets

AutoSignal is not designed to import multiple data sets at the same time. When multiple sets of a similar type need to be processed, it is much simpler to use the automation facility available in all of the program's principal procedures. The automation makes it possible to sequentially input any number of data sets from an Excel file, or via an acquisition DLL, in an unattended fashion.

The recommended approach is to import and process a representative data set. This could be the first data set in an Excel data source that contains hundreds or thousands of sets. Once all the analysis and processing conditions are optimized for this initial set, the automation can then be invoked to process the remaining data sets without requiring any user input.