DIAdem DataPlugin Text and Excel Wizard Requirements

My data file…

• is an ASCII, Excel or OpenOffice file
• is organized as one data channel per column
• does not have fixed width columns
• has a delimiter that is used only for identifying new columns.
  For example, if your delimiter is a comma, there is no text that should not be separated like ‘Jan. 31, 2012’
• has one constant EndLine character per row
• has only one header section before the data channels begin
• has one [Property Name, Property Value(s)] pair per row
  The property values, if you have more than one (ex. Channel names) must be separated by a delimiter
• has a header with a constant numeric and Date/Time Format (01-20-2012 and not Jan. 20, 2012)
• has one format for all numeric channels (3.14E+01)
• has one unified Date/Time column (not separate Date column and Time column)
• has one format for all Date/Time channels (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM)
• has one sensor per data channel (1D Array of same data type)
• has data channels with a constant  data type in the same column 
  For example, Column A is always a string, Column B is always an integer, etc. 
• has data channels with constant NAN strings

You can still use the DataPlugin Wizard if your file has...

• multiple delimiters per section 
• different delimiters for each level (group, channel, and data)  
• a header that will vary in lengths, as long as there is a distinct line of code that distinguishes where the header ends
  The example files below have different number of rows, but a line of asterisks defines the where the Group Level properties end.

If all of the criteria above is met for your data file, the next step is to learn how to use the Text or Excel DataPlugin Wizard to teach DIAdem how to read your data.

If any of these conditions were not met then you will have to create your own DataPlugin.