The data file consists of two basic sections: (1) a header and (2) raw data. The header contains information about how the data was collected and how it is to be interpreted by the equipment that regenerates the waveforms. The raw data can be reformated to meet the requirements of a particular piece of test equipment.

New items can be added to the header to extend the test capability. The ProgramVersion is then changed so that older data files do not become obsolete. The items in the header can be entered in any sequence and optional items can be left out. The data can be saved as a text file for convenience in reading by people. When these text files are compressed by 'zipping', they are approximately fifteen percent of their original size. If the amount of data makes the text format too unwieldy, the raw integer data can be saved in character format. This may be more compact but a separate display routine will be needed to make the data human readable.

For tests that require arcing events to be continued for 10 or 20 seconds or even longer, a short series of arcs can be recorded and then played back in a loop to simulate a long arcing sequence. The controller for the equipment that is regenerating the current waveform can vary the scale factor in a systematic manner (quasi-random) from one execution of the loop to the next.

• Comments are delimited by an asterisk, colon, semicolon, slash, or alphabetic character.
• Blank lines can be inserted anywhere.
• Data lines begin with a +,- or a numeric value.
• Alphanumeric data is not case sensitive.
  
• A data value does not have to begin in column 1 but it should be the first set of characters on the line.
• Text on the same line after the data is optional and will be treated as a comment by the processing routines.
• Multiple data entries can be on one line; they can be separated by blanks or commas.
• A colon, semicolor, asterisk, slash or any alphabetic character indicates the end of the data on one line. All subsequent characters are comments.
• Integer values will typically be represented in the computer with 32 bits.
• Floating point values will typically be represented as type 'float'.
• Intermediate scaling operations should be done with extended precision.
  
• Values that are not in base 10 can be denoted by:
  • 0Xnnnn = data value is hexadecimal. (letters can be upper or lower case)
  •  nnnnH = data value is hexadecimal.
  • 0Bmmmmmmmm = data value is binary.
  
  
• File names or other string parameters should be enclosed in single or double quotes. This allows for the inclusion of file names with additional information, such as:
  • configuration parameters,
  • schematic drawings,
  • pictures.
  
  
• The following data parameters can be in any order within the file.
• Each line can be up to 255 characters long.
• Some parameters may be optional.
• Parameter that are omitted will be set to default values.
• The default values for numeric parameters will typically be zero or one.
• The default value for string parameters will typically be a string with no characters (null).

***** Header *****
ProgramVersion=	204	: Program version used for this data file. : This tells the processing routine how to interpret each : field. Consequently, older data files do not become unusable.
Comment=	'Any comment up to 255 characters'	: A comment that describes this wave file.
DateFormat=	1	: Date format. 1=mm/dd/yyyy   2=dd/mm/yyyy   3=yyyy/mm/dd
DateCreated=	'9/25/1998'	: Date file was created. Data can be separated by / or -
TimeCreated=	'14:23'	: Time is saved in the 24 hour system.
Site1=	'Zlan Ltd'	: Site where the data was collected.
Site2=	'1615 W. Brown St.'	: optional address fields 2,3,4
Site3=	'Wylie, Texas 75098'
Site4=	'USA'
Engineer=	1015	: ID# of person who conducted this experiment.
LineFrequency=	60	: Nominal power line frequency. A different line frequency, such as 50Hz, can be specified when the wave file is used. Sample times will be adjusted accordingly.
LineVoltage=	120	: Nominal power line voltage.
MaxShortCurrent=	500	: Max short circuit current available.
DataFormat=	1	1 = Data values equally spaced in time. DataValues can be on separate lines or separated by spaces or commas on one line. The max number of characters per line is 255. 2 =Data value and Time are saved as a pair: Time, DataValue 3 = Data value and Time are saved as a pair: DataValue, Time 4 = Two DataValues per sample time (two input channels): DataValue1, DataValue2 5 = Time and two DataValues per sample: Time, DataValue1, DataValue2
NumSamples=	64000	: Number of data samples.
SampleRate=	19920	: Number of samples per second.
BitsPerSample=	12	: Number of data bits per sample.
ACPhaseAngle(deg)=	-167.43	Phase angle when the sampling begins.
UpperFreqLimit=	4000	Upper frequency limit of raw input data ( Hz).
LowerFreqLimit=	10	Lower frequency limit of raw input data. ( zero = DC )
TextData=	'setup.txt' ('setup.doc')	This might be a description of how the test data was collected and how it is to be used.
DisplayData=	'setup.txt'	Display this file on the monitor when the data file is called up.
	'setup.html'	Alternatively, the 'setup' file can be in html format to control the appearance and to display pictures and graphs.
An optional ScaleFactor and Offset can be included to scale data that has been saved in integer format. For example, the raw data from the ADC can be saved and then converted to a numeric value in the processing computer using high precision floating point arithmetic. This can make the raw data file smaller (fewer characters) without loosing precision. Optional scaling values entered on the command line when the data is executed will be applied after these values so that the same wave file can be used at different magnitude levels.
IScaleFactor1(A/V)=	1.0	Optional scale factor to multiply each data value from channel 1. Default=1 Actual_value = Raw_data*ScaleFactor + Offset
IOffset1(A)=	0.0	Optional offset to add to each data value from channel 1. Default=0
ScaleFactor2=	1.0	Optional scale factor to multiply each value from the second data channel. Default=1 Actual_value2 = Raw_data2*ScaleFactor2 + Offset2
Offset2=	0.0	Optional offset to add to each value from the second data. Default=0
***** End of Header *****

********* DATA ********
DataValue1
DataValue2
DataValue3
.
.
.

This is an example of the current in a circuit that is controlled by a light dimmer set for full power. ; Waveform File Header: ProgramVersion= 204 Comment='Light Dimmer - Full Power' DateFormat= 1 : mm/dd/yyyy DateCreated= '9/25/1998' TimeCreated= '14:23' Site1= 'Zlan Ltd' Site2= '1615 W. Brown St.' Site3= 'Wylie, Texas 75098' Site4= 'USA' Engineer= 1015 : ID# of person who conducted this experiment. LineFrequency= 60 : Nominal power line frequency. LineVoltage= 120 : Nominal power line voltage. MaxShortCurrent= 2000 : Max short circuit current available. DataFormat= 1 : 1=DataValues equally spaced in time. NumSamples= 64000 SampleRate= 19920 : Number of samples per second. : 332 samples per cycle. BitsPerSample= 12 ACPhaseAngle(deg)= 17.43 UpperFreqLimit= 4000 : Upper frequency limit of raw input data ( Hz). : 2-pole low pass filter. LowerFreqLimit= 10 : Lower frequency limit of raw input data. : Limited by current transformer. TextData= '' DisplayData= '' IScaleFactor1(A/V)= 5.0 : Scale factor to multiply each data value. : 5 amps per unit. IOffset1(A)= 0.0 : Offset to add to each data value. : Actual_value = Raw_data*ScaleFactor + Offset ***** End of Header ********* ***** Raw data follows: ***** 0.0244 * Light Dimmer at full power. Data values are in amps. 0.0243 * 332 samples/cycle. 12 bits/sample. 0.0247 * 64K samples. 0.6539 * 5 amps per unit. 1.2364 1.5273 1.6900 1.7943 1.8649 1.9237 1.9797 2.0282 2.0654 2.1124 2.1665 2.2223 (data continues in this format)

We will be please to receive comments and suggestions concerning this proposed format. Please address your email to the: Zlan Test Group.