asc2bin -- convert text files to ACCBIN

asc2bin is used by xdatplot to convert text files to the binary format it can work with directly: ACCBIN. See file formats for a general description of the text format asc2bin understands.

asc2bin options

-a number
-a tells asc2bin to abort with a exit code of 1 if number warnings are generated. Warnings are generated for lines of unrecognized formats (e.g., lines that have badly formed numbers), numbers that are outside the range [-32767, 32767] (after scaling, see -s option), and, if -w is specified, for unknown parameters. xdatplot runs asc2bin with -a 1, which causes it to abort on any format errors.

-w
asc2bin normally ignores unrecognized parameters silently. (This is so you can include parameters in your text files that other programs might use.) The -w option tells asc2bin to issue warnings for unknown parameters. Together with -a, -w can cause asc2bin to abort on reading unknown parameters.

-s scale
-s tells asc2bin that the numbers read from the input file should be multiplied by scale before being truncated to integers and written on the output.

-i
-i tells asc2bin that the input numbers are integers. This speeds up operation, but causes format errors if there are decimal fractions.

-o outfile
asc2bin normally sends its results to the standard output. -o tells it to put the results in outfile instead. This is a little faster than redirecting the standard output to a file, because asc2bin need not create a temporary file that has to be copied.

asc2bin parameters

VMul*
VMul is the number by which the data values should be multiplied to get the actual voltages that were read when the data were acquired. It corresponds to the "V Multiplier" of the Analyze Units... dialog.

Clock*
Clock is the sampling frequency: the reciprocal of the time interval between two consecutive data values. t Multiplier in the Analyze Units... dialog is the reciprocal of Clock.

Comment*
Comment is descriptive text attached to the file. It appears in the Comment area of the control panel.

Ulimit0
LLimit0
VMul0*
VOffset0
These are the upper limit, lower limit, multiplier, and offset for channel 0. There are corresponding parameters for channels 1-8. Ulimit, LLimit, VMul, and VOffset are synonyms for the channel 0 values.

TZero
The time at the first point in the file.

Channels
Channels recorded from, e.g. "1,2:5,8"

InterchannelDelay
The time between corresponding samples on different channels.
*These parameters are used by xdatplot.

Leon Avery (leon@eatworms.swmed.edu)