Problem with file format for Igor

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Sun, 09/20/2009 - 08:20 pm

Hi

I have got a set of data from an experiment, which are all in .dat format.

I used to convert all the experimental data files into .txt format for Igor by saving them as standard ASCII using the program installed in the computer for that experiment.

But these data files are given to me by someone who forgot to convert them before he handed over these data to me.

Is there another way to convert .dat into .txt format so that Igor could understand it? Please, because I tried to open the files in .dat format with Igor directly but the data produced doesn't make any sense.



.dat is not a standard kind of data format, so it's not surprising that Igor can't directly open the file and make sense of it. Depending on what application was used to create the .dat file in the first place, it's possible that someone has already written an importer that you could use with Igor to open the file. Otherwise, if you know the actual data format/structure of the file it might be possible to write Igor code to open the file. But without knowing the structure that the data is stored in the file, it's hard to import the data.

September 20, 2009 at 08:45 pm - Permalink

aclight wrote:
.dat is not a standard kind of data format, so it's not surprising that Igor can't directly open the file and make sense of it. Depending on what application was used to create the .dat file in the first place, it's possible that someone has already written an importer that you could use with Igor to open the file. Otherwise, if you know the actual data format/structure of the file it might be possible to write Igor code to open the file. But without knowing the structure that the data is stored in the file, it's hard to import the data.


Thanks,

I'll try to look into it, just bear with this thread.

September 21, 2009 at 11:40 pm - Permalink

aclight wrote:
.dat is not a standard kind of data format, so it's not surprising that Igor can't directly open the file and make sense of it. Depending on what application was used to create the .dat file in the first place, it's possible that someone has already written an importer that you could use with Igor to open the file. Otherwise, if you know the actual data format/structure of the file it might be possible to write Igor code to open the file. But without knowing the structure that the data is stored in the file, it's hard to import the data.

Yup!

.dat is an extension that is way overused. It could mean almost anything.

John Weeks
WaveMetrics, Inc.
support@wavemetrics.com

September 22, 2009 at 03:34 pm - Permalink

johnweeks wrote:

.dat is an extension that is way overused. It could mean almost anything.


I had a similar problem with a huge dataset and completely agree with John's comment. It can be anything. First you should have a look with some advanced editor like Notepad++ to check the structure of the datafile. But I recommend to contact/visit the person who gave the data to you and ask for converted ascii data if possible. Everything else can be a waste of time...
Don't expect that Igor can load all file types out there. The import filters available through Igor exchange are also not working 100% for everyone.

What kind of data is it? Which machine? Maybe we can give a hint...

Cheers,
Jan

September 23, 2009 at 02:42 am - Permalink