In this field the user should type the name of an input binary file (often a single parameter .dac file). By default MDTA assumes a .dac file extension but if a file with a different file extension is to be processed then enter the File Name plus extension in full. Two parameter files and histogram (3 parameter) files can also be processed.

MDTA will expect to find the input data files resident in the user’s directory. However, other directories can also be accessed if the complete file specification path name and file name are entered. Probably the easiest way to name an input file is to use the pick List facility.

In this field the output ASCII file must be named. The file extension will by default be .asc although if a different name and extension is entered here then the alternative extension will be used.

By default MDTA uses the input file name as the output file name (the file extensions will be different). If a file with the same name as he proposed output file name already exists on the target drive and directory then MDTA will prompt the user for permission to overwrite the existing file.

MDTA can optionally write the header details to the ASCII file. If the ASCII output file is subsequently converted back to binary (by module PTIME) then the header information will also be converted. This MDTA/PTIME pairing is useful, for example, if a binary header needs to be edited and then re-converted back to binary.

The header details will occupy their usual fixed 20 first lines of the file.

If multiple column is selected, the program will attempt to fit as many values into a line as possible. If no value is selected then every data value X-Y pair will be written on a separate line (although the ASCII file will be larger).

This field enables the user to select which of three ASCII characters will be used to delimit or act as a boundary marker, between the data values.

If two parameter files are to be created from a single parameter file then MDTA can read the header information of the input .dac and create a second data column of X values e.g. time

This field asks for the name of an ASCII text file data to be converted to a time series file format .DAC file. The assumed file extension is .ASC though other file extensions and pathnames are accepted if they are entered explicitly.

Use the pick list facility to select an input file. Note that until this field has been completed, none of the other fields will appear.

This requests the name of a time series file (e.g. *.DAC) as the output of the ASCII to DAC conversion process. The generic name of the input file is offered as default, and if the output file already exists in the specified directory, the user will be asked to confirm that it may be overwritten.

Enter the sample rate on points per second (Hz). The default is 1 Hz, or the value in the macro of the ASCII if it was made by DTA, or if the keyword ATDSAMP is set in the environment then any values associated with that keyword are used. If the time increment is known then the sample rate is the time rate's reciprocal.

MATD can convert two types of ASCII data file:

The user must answer Yes if the data format is like that of 1) above, or No if the data format is like that of 2) above. If Yes is entered and Take All Numbers = No, then the following fields appear. Start Position for Accepting, Number of Values to Skip, and Number of Values to Take.

The ASCII text file being used as input to MATD may have some header lines containing information about the data rather than data itself. The user is requested to enter the number of lines of header the program is to ignore as valid data lines. The default is determined by the environment keyword ATDSKIP, which MATD both sets and reads in the local environment. It may be necessary to view the ASCII file to count the header lines. If the ASCII file was produced by the module MDTA then the correct number of header lines to skip to recreate the original signal file is 20.

The conversion program is only interested in data points and not in any other numbers which may be in the file, such as time base values. This question is asking whether all the numbers in the ASCII file are to be used or whether some are to be ignored. When the file is a file of time-data value pairs where the time values are NOT equally spaced then answering Yes will cause MATD to treat all data as time-value pairs. If No then ATD will ask for the time column number and the data column number.

This field appears if Equally Spaced Data=Yes and Take All Numbers=No.

If the user wishes to skip some data values in the file, for example in the case of a multiplexed ASCII file such as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
etc. (8 channels)

Each channel may be taken out one at a time by specifying the start location of the channel. In this case, for channel 4, selecting a start value of 4 and the skip value (next question) of 7 (skip 7 values before the next data value for channel 4), will convert only the ASCII data for channel 4. The default is to begin taking data at the first value.

This field appears if Equally Spaced Data=Yes and Take All Numbers=No

If the user wishes to skip some of the data values in the file, then the number of values to skip at any one time must be given in response to this prompt. For example, if the file is like this:

1
2.5
2
3.45
3 etc.

and the values 1,2,3 are not required, then the number to skip is 1. The default value is 0, meaning do not skip.

This field appears if Equally Spaced Data=Yes and Take All Numbers=No. If the user wishes to skip some of the data values in the file, then the number of values to accept at any one time must be entered at this prompt. For example, if the file is like this:

1
2.5 3.5 4.5
2
3.45 4.2 3.1
3 etc.

and the values 1,2,3 are not required, then the number to skip is 1 and the number to take is 3. The default number to take is 1. If Equally Spaced Data = No, then Start Position for accepting, etc., does not appear. They are replaced by Time Column and Data Column.

This field appears if Equally Spaced Data=No and Take All Numbers=No. If non equally spaced data is in the input file then the program needs time value pairs. If the file has multiple data columns, the user must specify which column is time. Therefore, in this field the time column number is entered. MATD will assume that each line has the same number of columns.

This field appears if Equally Spaced Data=No and Take All Numbers=No. In addition to knowing which is the Time Column, MATD must also know which is the Data Column.

All screen displays contain these two fields. The label for the Y-Axis is Magnitude and Volts by default, however the user can enter any 28 characters in these fields should they wish to change the Label/Units. Having completed all inputs, MATD begins the data conversion and gives the following on screen message.

The name of a general setup file should be entered into this field. General setup file usually take an .ATD extension and this will be assumed if none is given. If the field is left blank it will be assumed that the program is to create a temporary default setup for the demultiplex operation. A list of .ATD files is offered by pressing the pick list button or by clicking the mouse on the LIST button. A file may be selected from this list.

The name of the ASCII data file should be entered into this field. ASCII data files usually contain a number of header lines followed by the data to be demultiplexed. The standard extension for this type of data file is .ASC and this will be assumed if none is entered. A list of .ASC files is given by clicking the pick list button); A file may then be selected from this list.

A generic file name for the output filenames should be entered here. The output filenames are created by appending the channel numbers to the filename and adding a .DAC extension, e.g., Demultiplexing channels 1, 5 and 6 using a file stem FRED will produce the following output filenames:

FRED01.DAC - Contains data from channel 1
FRED05.DAC - Contains data from channel 5
FRED06.DAC - Contains data from channel 6

The standard ASCII data file may optionally contain a header area proceeding the data to be demultiplexed. This question asks for the number of lines of text comprising the header area. The first non-blank line after this area is then assumed to be the start of the data to be demultiplexed. The default is determined by the environment keyword ATDSKIP, which MATD both sets and reads in the local environment. If the ASCII data file does not contain any header information then the answer to this question will be 0.

This question is asking for the number of channels, NCHANS, defined in the data file. The program can then synchronize the data knowing that a new sample begins after every NCHANS data values in the input file. The channels are numerically tagged, incrementing sequentially from 1 to NCHANS (i.e. if 4 channels are defined these are tagged 1,2,3,4). Channels are subsequently referred to by their numerical tag. If a general setup file is being used the default number of defined channels offered in this field is taken from this file.

This question determines the sample rate of the data. It must be the same for all channels. The sample rate is defined to be the number of samples per channel per second. It is also the reciprocal of the time increment between each sample of a given channel. If a general setup file is being used the default sample rate offered in this field is taken from this file. If no setup has been nominated the default value offered is 1 unless the keyword ATDSAMP is in the environment in which case its associated value is used.

This question determines the X-Axis base offset of the data. Most commonly this means the time at which the first data in the input file was sampled and it usually has a value of zero. It must be the same for all channels. If a general setup file is being used the default value for the base offset is taken from this file. If no setup is being used a default value of 0.0 is offered.

The list of channels to demultiplex is entered in this field. The input may be entered using the keyboard as follows:

1,5,7-10 - selects channels 1,5,7,8,9 and 10
ALL - selects all channels in data file
DEFAULT - uses the default channel list from the setup file or
ALL channels if a setup file is not being used

Alternatively, the channels may be selected from a list of all active channels offered by pressing the pick list button or by clicking the mouse over the CHAN button. The word <SELECTED> is written to the field to denote a list of channels selected this way. The number of channels selected is displayed below this field. When all the above fields have been filled, ATD will use the spreadsheet function to display the units and labels for each channel. The spreadsheet function is explained four pages ahead.

A chart logger setup filename should be entered into this field. Logger files take a .SET extension (this is implied if none is given). Files with other extensions are assumed to be general setup files. If the field is left blank it will be assumed that the program is to create a temporary default setup for the demultiplex operation. A list of .SET files is offered by clicking the mouse on the LIST button. A file may be selected from this list.

When the logger file has been selected the following items are requested:

The chart logger data filename should be entered into this field. Chart logger data files take the extension .PRN and this will be assumed if none is entered. A warning is issued if the specified file does not exists. A list of .PRN files is given by pressing the pick list button. A file may then be selected from this list.

A generic stem for the output filenames should be entered into this field. The output filenames are created by appending the channel numbers to the filestem and adding a .DAC extension, e.g., Demultiplexing channels 1,5 and 6 using a file stem FRED will produce the following output filenames:

FRED01.DAC - Contains data from channel 1
FRED05.DAC - Contains data from channel 5
FRED06.DAC - Contains data from channel 6

MATD would fail if it attempted to start extracting data in the header region of the input file. So, because the header region consists of a discrete number of lines at the top of the file, it is possible to instruct MATD to skip that number of lines before data extraction will begin. The default is determined by the environment keyword ATDSKIP, which MATD both sets and reads in the local environment.

By default MATD will skip whatever number of header lines it encounters in the input file. Also, because ASCII files can be loaded into a text editor, it is possible to manually count the number of lines that need skipping in order to answer this question.

This question is asking for the number of channels, NCHANS, defined in the data file. The program can then synchronize the data knowing that a new sample begins after every NCHANS data values in the input file. The channels are numerically tagged, incrementing sequentially from 1 to NCHANS (i.e. if 4 channels are defined these are tagged 1,2,3,4). Channels are subsequently referred to by their numerical tag. If a general setup file is being used the default number of defined channels offered in this field is taken from this file.

This question determines the sample rate of the data. The sample rate is defined to be the number of samples per channel per second. It is also the reciprocal of the time increment between each sample of a given channel. If a general setup file is being used the default sample rate offered in this field is taken from this file. If no setup has been nominated, the default value offered is 1 unless the keyword ATDSAMP is in the environment in which case its associated value is used.

This question determines the X-Axis base offset of the data. Most commonly this means the time at which the first data in the input file was sampled and it usually takes the value 0. If a general setup file is being used the default value for the base offset is taken from this file. If no setup is being used a default value of 0.0 is offered.

The list of channels to demultiplex is entered in this field. The input may be entered using the keyboard as follows:

1,5,7-10 - selects channels 1,5,7,8,9 and 10
ALL - selects all channels in data file
DEFAULT - uses the default channel list of setup file or ALL
channels if a setup file is not being used

Alternatively, the channels may be selected from a list of all active channels offered by pressing the pick list button. The word <SELECTED> is written to the field to denote a list of channels selected this way. The number of channels selected is displayed below this field. When all the above fields have been filled MATD will use the spreadsheet function to display the channel units and labels for each channel (see next section). Exiting from the spreadsheet editor will initiate the demultiplexing operation (after the user has confirmed this action). During logger file demultiplexing, lines containing errors will cause a temporary halt with a message to select one action from Remove, remove All, or Exit. Any lines removed in this way will be written or appended to a test file, ATDERR.LOG, for subsequent viewing.

When the edits have been made this option quits the spreadsheet environment and starts the demultiplexing operation.

This option quits the spreadsheet environment and returns to the previously viewed screen.

Suppresses the less crucial verification requests. For example the verification for restoring a snapshot will not be asked.

This option allows a string to be defined such that wherever it is encountered as a substring in any channel label or unit it represents the channel number. For example, assume the channel substitution string is set to "nn" and the Y-labels for channels 3,57 and 92 are set as follows:

3:Strain Gauge nn
57:Serial No PK00nn
92:Channel-nn

The actual labels written to the output files will be

Strain Gauge 3
Serial No PK0057
Cha92el-92

Note that the substring, nn, is obviously inappropriate since it produces an unrequired substitution in the word Channel.

Causes the current spreadsheet values to be remembered. The values are reinstated by using the restore option. A snapshot is automatically taken when the spreadsheet is first entered.

Spreadsheet values are re-instated to those stored when the last snapshot was taken. Verification is only required if the verify preference is switched on.

The default setup for chart logger data is taken from the corresponding .SET file. However, it is permitted to use an .ATD setup file if required.

If no setup file is nominated then all input fields corresponding to demultiplex parameters are initialized to NULL thus forcing values to be entered.

The general setup file will be structured as follows.

The first line of the file will distinguish an MATD general setup file from other files:

MATD General Setup File: Created 5/2/95 for testing with MYDATA

The characters up to and including the colon form the identification string. All characters after this colon are optional and are ignored.

All remaining lines of importance will contain recognizable tokens followed by their associated parameters.

TOKENS / Example

<NHEAD> 12 The number of header lines preceding the data
<SRATE> 0.01 The sample rate
<XBASE> 0.00 The x-base offset
<XLAB> 3, Time The channel number (3) followed by the label
<YLAB> 3, Strain The channel number (3) followed by the label
<XUN> 3, Seconds The channel number (3) followed by the units
<YUN> 3, uE The channel number (3) followed by the units
<NCHANS> 4 The number of channels in the data file
<DMXLST> 2,3 The list of channels to be demultiplexed
<SUBSTR> nnn The channel number substitution string
<LOGMAP> 1-9,17,18 The logical channel mapping information used
when saving information from a logger setup
file to a general setup file.

Regenerates a .dac files from a range-mean rainflow matrix (.cyh). As pointed out in the technical overview, this type of regeneration has to go via an intermediate maximum-minimum stage and is as a consequence 3% less accurate than the maximum-minimum option.

Regenerates a .dac file from a maximum-minimum rainflow matrix (.cyh) file.

Both the above methods accept .cyh files as their input and MREGEN cannot guarantee that it is the correct type unless it was created from another MSC.Fatigue module (Range-mean or max-min is identified in the header). The wrong input type will probably cause an error message to be output at some stage but this can NOT be guaranteed.

Regenerates a .dac files from a from-to Markov transition matrix. It takes a Markov Transition matrix and converts it to a joint peak-trough probability density function (p.d.f.) from which a variable length time series may be reconstructed. The reconstructed history will have the same, or similar, peak trough p.d.f. to the original data. It does not reconstruct exact transition segments.

Generates a Gaussian distribution from a user supplied irregularity factor.

The name of the file from which a .dac file is to be regenerated must be entered here. The List button will automatically look for files with the correct extension depending upon what was chosen in the Input Type field above.

The name of the .dac file to be regenerated must be entered here. By default it will have the same name as the input file, but a .dac extension. MREGEN will ask for permission before overwriting any existing files.

When a matrix element is selected to reconstruct a time history value, the value itself may be determined from any part of the bin. Three cases are offered here: Select the extreme edge of the bin (maximum for peaks, minimum for troughs), the mean value (centre of the bin), or a random location.

This field specifies the sample rate of the output .dac file. Because the rainflow process loses all time information it is necessary to supply it in this field, which will allow a new time series (.dac) file to be created. Note that the new time series is really a peak valley sequence with a single cyclic frequency equal to half the supplied sample rate.

The number seed can be one of two types: Random or User defined. If it is random then the program will generate a pseudo-random number as the seed (it will in fact repeat after a very large number of cycles). For repeatable results it should be the same seed value for each run of the program, hence the option of the user entering a seed number.

This field only appears if Seed is set to User generated. It has been proved that the best seed is an odd number.

Enter the name of the matrix from which a time history is to be regenerated. The default file extension is .mkh.

Enter the name of the time series file to be created. If this file exists, the program will ask whether the file may be overwritten. The default extension for this file is .dac.

Enter the number of points to be recreated. For reconstruction from a Markov matrix, the default value will reconstruct a sequence containing the same number of peaks and troughs as the input matrix.

When a matrix element is selected to reconstruct a time history value, the value itself may be determined from any part of the bin. Three cases are offered here, to select the extreme edge of the bin (maximum for peaks, minimum for troughs), the mean value (centre of the bin) and a random location.

This field specifies the sample rate of the output .dac file. Because the rainflow process loses all time information it is necessary to supply it in this field, which will allow a new time series (.dac) file to be created.

Note that the new time series is really a peak valley sequence with a single cyclic frequency equal to half the supplied sample rate.

The number seed can be one of two types: Random or User defined. If it is random then the program will generate a pseudo-random number as the seed (it will in fact repeat after a very large number of cycles). For repeatable results it should be the same seed value for each run of the program, hence the option of the user entering a seed number.

This field only appears if Seed is set to User generated. It has been proved that the best seed is an odd number.

Type the name of the output .dac file that will be created.

Enter the irregularity factor from which a transition matrix will be created. The irregularity factor is defined as the number of mean crossings divided by the number of peaks. The value lies in the range, 0.0 to 1.0 where 1 implies pure narrow band.

Type the Y-axis label and it's units (if any) of the output .dac file.

Reconstruction from an irregularity factor generates a normalized probability matrix. To calibrate the time history, specify the maximum value which the time history may attain.

Enter the number of points to be recreated.

Type the output file's sample rate (sample rate information is not part of the 3 parameter .cyh file). Note that the new time series is really a peak valley sequence with a single cyclic frequency equal to half the supplied sample rate.

The number seed can be one of two types; Random or User defined. If it is random then the program will generate a pseudo-random number as the seed (it will in fact repeat after a very large number of cycles). For repeatable results it should be the same seed value for each run of the program, hence the option of the user entering a seed number.

This field only appears if Seed is set to User generated. It has been proven that the best seed is an odd number.

The first field is the name of the RPC file to convert. The default extension for the RPC file name is .rsp, and the file is assumed to reside in the current working directory. A file name may be picked from a list by clicking on the pick list button. Once the RPC file name has been entered, the remainder of the input fields are displayed on screen. These fields are described below.

This field allows the channels required for extraction to be specified. Channel numbers may be entered directly into the field by entering them in the form

1,3-5,10-15 etc. 

where the hyphen indicates an inclusive range of channel numbers. The word 'ALL' may be entered in the field which indicates that all the channels in the RPC file should be processed. Click on LIST to pick one or more channel numbers from a list of those which exist in the RPC file. In this case a screen will be presented. The vertical list shows all the channels which exist in the RPC file. One or more channels may be individually tagged (selected with the mouse). Pressing the T key over an already tagged channel will untag it. Use the A key to tag all channels, or U to untag all channels. Select the Accept option when all the required channels have been tagged.

One output file is created for each channel extracted from the input file. The output file names are constructed as <root name> <channel number>.dac where the <root name> is the name entered in this field. This name will be the same for all the output files. The channel number occupies two or three digits, padded with a preceding zero if required.

This field allows the extension of the output files to be specified. The default offered is .dac, which is the standard extension of MSC.Fatigue time series data files. Any other three letter extension may be entered if required.

If this field is set to Yes, then a report file will be generated during processing, which contains a list of the channels which have been extracted, with their channel descriptions and units. Also a table of the statistics of each of the extracted channels is written to the file. The report file will have the same name as the root name specified above, but a file extension of .lst. It is a text file which may be printed if required.

It is not necessary to extract the complete signal for each channel from the RPC file. A time window for extraction can be specified by entering the start and end position. The start and end position may be specified either as times in seconds measured from the start of the data file, as point numbers counted from the start of the data file, or as frame numbers, also counted from the start of the data file. At the bottom of the screen the length of the data file in terms of time, points and frames is displayed. This field requests the method by which the time window is to be selected.

This field will actually request Start Time, Start Point Number or Start Frame Number, depending on the setting of the previous field. Either enter the required start position in the appropriate units, or enter the word START which indicates the start of the data file.

This field will actually request End Time, End Point Number or End Frame Number, depending on the setting of the Window Selection Method field. Either enter the required end position in the appropriate units, or enter the word END which indicates the end of the data file. It is not possible to enter offsets from the end of the file (using END-5 etc.). When this screen is accepted, the processing will begin. As each channel is processed its channel number and description is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Also, when each channel is completed, the statistics of the created .dac file will be displayed. If an output file is already found to exist during processing, then a box will be popped on screen asking whether to overwrite the existing file or not.

The .dac files which are to be combined should all be different channels of the same test. The name of each file should follow the convention below. <test name> <channel number>.dac where the <test name> is the same for all the .dac files. The <channel number> should be at least two characters and is padded with a leading zero if required, i.e. test01.dac would be channel 1 for test name test. The test name for the required set of input .dac files should be entered in this field.

As described in the previous section, the names of the input .dac files should be related by a common test name. Enter in this field the channel numbers of this test that are to be processed. The channel numbers should be entered in the form 1,3-15,21-30 etc., where the hyphen indicates an inclusive range of channel numbers. Alternatively, the word ‘ALL’ may be entered in the field, and the program will locate and process all the .dac files which match the specified test name. Please note that all the .dac files specified for input must have the same sample rate and number of points.

Select the source of the channel titles and units. Header will get them from the input .dac file headers. Extra Details will get any extended titles and units from their extra details areas.

This field specifies the name of the output RPC file to create. This file will be created in the current working directory unless the name is preceded with a directory specification. The name should not include a file extension. If the name of an existing file is specified, then a question box will appear on screen asking whether the existing file should be overwritten or not.

This field specifies the extension which will be attached to the output file. The default offered is .rsp.

The program can create either RPC II or RPC III files. Select the required file type here. If RPC III is selected, then the last 4 fields on this screen are not offered, since they do not apply to RPC III files.

The test title is a textual description of the data in the file. It is stored in the header of the output RPC file.

If this field is set to Yes, then a report file will be generated during processing which contains a list of the channels processed, their descriptions, units and statistics. The report file is a text file which may be printed if required. The program will inform the user of the name of the report file when processing is complete.

RPC files are organized in ‘groups’. Each group contains 1, 2 or 4 frames, and each frame contains a number of points which is a power of 2 between 256 and 8192. The file must always contain a whole number of groups. Select the number of points per frame from the list offered.

As described in the previous paragraph, each group within the file must contain either 1, 2 or 4 frames. Select the required number of frames per group from the list.

It is not necessary to process the entire length of the input .dac files. A time window can be selected for processing by entering a start and end position.This field controls the method by which the start and end positions are set, which may be Time, measured in seconds from the start of the .dac files, or Point numbers, counted from the start of the .dac files.

This field will either request Start Time or Start Point Number, depending on the setting of the previous field. Time is measured in seconds from the start of the data file. Point numbers are counted from the start of the data files. Alternatively, the word ‘START’ may be specified indicating the start of the data file. Please note that the ‘START+’ construct used elsewhere in MSC.Fatigue does not work here.

This field will either request End Time or End Point Number, depending on the setting of the Window Selection Method field. Times or point numbers are measured from the start of the data files as described above. Alternatively, the word ‘END’ may be specified indicating the end of the data files. Please note that the ‘END+’ construct used elsewhere in MSC.Fatigue does not work here.

This field and the following three are only used for RPC II files. These files allow the maximum length of the channel description storage area to be set at the time of file creation. A number between 1 and 80 may be specified.

RPC II files allow the maximum length of the channel units description storage area to be set at the time of file creation. A number between 1 and 80 may be specified.

This field is the clock pulses per second, which may have a value between 1 and 30 000. The sample rate per point of RPC II files is held in the form of a clock speed and a divider. The clock speed, in pulses per second should be entered in this field and the divider (pulses per data point) in the following field. The clock speed divided by the divider value should be equal to the sample rate in points per second. The defaults offered by the program are calculated from the sample rate of the input files, but may be changed if required.

As described in the previous paragraph, this field and the clock pulses per second define the sample rate of the RPC file. Enter a number between 1 and 999 in this field.

If the values entered in these two fields are not equivalent to the sample rate of the input files, then a message box will be popped on screen. A choice will be offered of whether to continue or re-select the clock settings.

Inputs can be an nCode format PSD file (e.g. generated by MASD) or binary or ASCII xy file. The ASCII file needs two columns of data, representing frequency (in Hz) and PSD value, and the units should be defined. The first point MUST be at zero frequency. An example file follows (lines preceeded by # are optional):

Input or select the filename to be processed. Default filename extensions are .PSD, .MDF, and .ASC for the three file types.

Enter the name of the time series file to be created. If this file exists, the program will ask whether the file may be overwritten. The default extension for this file is .dac

Enter here the signal duration (in seconds). The default signal length is the minimum recommended, based on an assumed FFT buffer size. Bear in mind that what is generated by this module is a random sample representing a stationary random process. The longer the sample, the better the representation of the process.

The sample rate of the generated signal must be at least twice the maximum frequency in the PSD (the default). This is necessary to avoid aliasing. If the signal is to be used for fatigue analysis, a frequency of at least 10 times the maximum frequency of interest in the PSD is recommended.

This is the size of the FFT buffer used in the filtering operation, and controls the resolution of the filtering operation.

Enter the desired mean of the output signal.

Enter the units of the output signal.

Enter the Y-axis label for the output signal.

Select the interpolation method where appropriate.

DAC,KSN, PSD

TDB

MDB

RSX11M

(for the DEC PDP range of minicomputers)

MS-DOS

(for DEC VAX computers)

UNIX

(for the IBM PC and compatibles)

UNIX

(Masscomp workstations)

UNIX

(Apollo workstations)

UNIX

(Hewlett Packard)

UNIX

(Sun)

UNIX

(SGI)

UNIX

(IBM 6000)

UNIX

(DECstation)

As mentioned, the single parameter input files typically have an .ASD extension. However if the files to be merged have a different extension, such as .DAC, then the extension should be entered in this field.

This is the name of the output .WFL file. It will be the sum of all the input files.

Here is where the input files are named. Their names can be entered in full, or a generic name can be entered. For example ORD1P3(1-20) will input ORD1P301, ORD1P302, ORD1P303...to ORD1P320, i.e. 20 files.

A maximum of 128 input files can be specified. A minimum of 2 files must be specified.

This is where the input file is named. It has to be a waterfall file format, although if its file extension is not .WFL, but its format is that of a waterfall file then it can be processed. The full file name (including extension) only has to be entered if the extension is not .WFL.

This is where the generic name for all the output files is entered. Note that the final filename cannot be more than 8 characters long, so entering TESTFIL as a generic name and generating more than 9 files will produce an error message because TESTFIL10 contains too many characters.

Any extension can be specified here, although .PSD is the default extension.

Whatever is the range of values and increments along the Z-axis, a subset of those values can be entered in these fields.

These 2 fields allow the input file to be split selectively, i.e. not all the Z-axis values have to be processed (every Z-axis value will produce and output file).

Only numbers are allowed (not START, or END etc.).

The exact number of output files created is dependent upon the range and its incremental spacing. See Technical Overview above (split WFL files into multiple 1 parameter files) for a full explanation.

When the above fields have been filled and accepted MWFLCRE returns to the Main Menu.