3 Dimension wave from multiple files

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Wed, 01/30/2013 - 07:40 am

I have approximately 89 csv files that I would like to import into Igor as a 3 component wave. Each file has x and y components, and I would like each one to be the third component. My ultimate goal is to make a series of image plots from the data, but I will also extract graphs from the data. Any ideas, other than inputing each of the files by copy and pasting? Thanks.
You could write some code that would load these waves and enter their values into a matrix but, if this is a one time thing, you'd probably be better off copy/pasting. To my knowledge, something like this isn't built-in.

Since you want to make a 3D plot, I am going to assume the x-waves for each csv file are the same (things will get ugly if not).

Make a 2D wave with dimensions equal to the number of files and the number of x points (say 89 x 400, or however many x values you have). Scale the larger dimension so it's values are that of the x-wave in your csv files. Now simply paste the Y values into the matrix.

You can scale the second dimension as well, if the 89 csv files represent some changing measurement parameter (lets say temperature for a simplistic example).

So you'll end up with 89 rows by X columns (where X is the number of points in your XY data sets) and the 2D matrix will be filled by the Y values from your CSV files.


Making a Triplet wave is also possible, but I find a 2D matrix easier to work with.

January 30, 2013 at 08:06 am - Permalink

Depending on what you want to do with the data you may choose to load into triplet waves (2D waves that have 3 columns for X, Y and Z) or have separate 1D waves for the various components. The first question that needs to be asked here is if your data are sampled on a rectangular grid. If so, you should load the Z-values into a 2D matrix and use the X and Y data to apply wave scaling in the corresponding dimensions. If your data are not sampled on a grid and you are looking to generate either surface or image plot then you should load the data as triplet waves.

A.G.
WaveMetrics, Inc.

January 30, 2013 at 09:41 am - Permalink

Yeah. I've settled on making a 3D matrix, as I need to graph one x,y point from each file on the same graph. I was just hoping there was some way faster than opening 89 files in excel, and pasting them into the matrix.

January 30, 2013 at 10:35 am - Permalink

You can write a procedure to load the file. Here is an example:
DisplayHelpTopic "Loading All of the Files in a Folder"

You would need to use XLLoadWave with the appropriate parameters instead of LoadWave. To determine the appropriate XLLoadWave parameters, first determine the cells you want to load (e.g., C3 through J10) and then choose Data->Load Waves->Load Excel File.

If you get stuck, post a sample file with an explanation of what you want to load from it.

January 30, 2013 at 12:08 pm - Permalink