topic Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File in Mathcad

How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

ppal — Thu, 03 May 2018 13:42:49 GMT

Does anyone know how I can read a binary comtrade data file. In this case "File.dat"What is comtrade? See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comtrade.I am interested in displaying the File.dat The others are easy to open in mathcad.Once I can view it then I can do further processing

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

LucMeekes — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 05:58:27 GMT

The .hdr (header) file is an XML formatted file.

The .dat (data) file appears to be a binary data file.

The .cfg (configuration) file is a comma separated values (.csv) file.

While Mathcad can 'read' all these files (the first two with the READBIN function, the last one with READPRN), it cannot interpret them.

You'll have to know the format and meanings of fields, then you can write Mathcad programs to actually interpret the files.

Alternatively, if you have c-code that can interpret these files, you could wrap that into a User-DLL that adds the specific functions to Mathcad.

Success!

Luc

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

LucMeekes — Sat, 08 Apr 2017 15:00:09 GMT

The data file information is specified in IEEE standard C37.111, which has become an IEC standard in 2001.

See here:https://webstore.iec.ch/preview/info_iec60255-24%7Bed2.0%7Db.pdf

Success!

Luc

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

LucMeekes — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 20:23:26 GMT

It's done.

Results:

Let me know if you like it.

Luc

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

ppal — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 02:01:31 GMT

Looks great. But where do you actually give the full path to the files. When I try it sees the "." cfg then does a subscript. Could you give a screen capture of where you actually point the mathcad to the actual files. Thanks for your effort. You have put a lot of work into it. Genius!

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

ppal — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 03:48:43 GMT

I get this error:

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

LucMeekes — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 05:53:41 GMT

You have an exclamation mark '!' in your path. That (apparently) is an illegal character.

Instead of using CWD, define the you path string explicitly, like:

file:= "D:\....\H035"

Success!

Luc

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

LucMeekes — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 07:21:15 GMT

Ah, better still.... assuming you have the mathcad file(s) in the same directory as the .cfg and .dat files, just define:

file:="H035"

That should do it.

Success!

Luc

P.S. I see that you're using Prime (and probably used Mathcad 15 to open my source file).

Does the utility function in Mathcad 15?

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

ppal — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 08:59:02 GMT

Hi The conversion to Prime 4 looks fine. The "!" Is a sub folder. But it also failed to open in the d: root drive. I'll give it another go tomorrow. I really appreciate your work on this. When I get the prime 4 working I'll post it here.

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

LucMeekes — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 11:45:40 GMT

Even if you don't get it to work, I may be able to help to find the problem.

Though I cannot execute programs in Prime 4, I can read the file and inspect it.

Success!
Luc

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

ppal — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 22:08:19 GMT

Errors I got in Mathcad 15 and prime 4.0.

Hope you can shed some light. Much appreciated.

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

Werner_E — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 00:30:24 GMT

I can confirm the error in Mathcad 14, M045.

Its the vec2str(W) statement in the READCSVI routine which throws the error because it obviously can't convert a vector containing a zero into a string.

@Luc

Haven't digged into the logic of your program and can't tell why you set W to a 1x1 matrix containing a zero from time to time.

How does vec2str handles a zero byte in MC11? Maybe as a workaround we could write a new vec2str in MC11 which simulates that behaviour.^

!!! EDIT:

Solution found!

Simply replace the two occurrences of W <-- (0) by W <-- 0 and it seems to work OK. At least it works in MC15

I can't give it a try with P4, but I guess the problem there is the very same.

Below you see the difference between vec2str(0) and vec2str of a 1x1 matrix containing 0. The first returns an empty string (which is needed) but the second throws an error. Guess this is different in MC11

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

ppal — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 03:09:24 GMT

Hi The Cfg now works but Dat file says : "can't open the data file"

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

Werner_E — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 07:39:15 GMT

I can't replicate that error using Mathcad 15) - just changed the two program lines mentioned and it works.

Are you sure you have both files, "file.cfg" AND "file.dat" in the same directory as your Mathcad file? "file.hdr" seems not to be used by Luc's sheet.

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

LucMeekes — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 09:14:15 GMT

Werner,

I remembered once having had a bad experience with supplying an integer to the vec2str() function.

(The error message says that the argument must be a vector)

But I've checked vec2str() can live with a zero, also in Mathcad 11:

So I could change single element vector containing a zero into a simple zero.

A message to the OP:

In Prime you might not need the READCSV function, because Prime has READCSV, which does the same in this application.

Luc

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

LucMeekes — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 09:22:02 GMT

Yes, it works,

here is the adapted version that should also work in versions of Mathcad above 11.

Luc

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

Werner_E — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 09:36:28 GMT

Ah, I see from your screenshot that this

is the difference to later Mathcad version which throw an error (maybe we could call that a bug).

Still not sure why the OP now has problems reading the *.dat file.

Only explanation I can thinks of is, that he forgot to copy it to the same locations as the cfg and MC file. Also possible that the file is open and in use by another program - not sure if MC would choke on hat.

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

ppal — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 09:43:58 GMT

Yes! Mathcad 15 works but Prime 4.0 has errors:

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

LucMeekes — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 10:09:41 GMT

I also corrected an error, which means that the data file is now read including the very last sample

(I had to omit the last sample because the function was apparently reading past the end of the data file).

Attached are corrected Mathcad 11 and Prime 4 files.

I don't think that the corrected Prime 4 file will solve the problem you show above.

Luc

Re: How to Read a Binary COMTRADE Data File

LucMeekes — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 10:27:02 GMT

Caution, using the built-in READCSV of Prime instaed of the one I supplied, requires changes in ReadComtradeCfg, because the READCSV built into Prime already interprets evry field that looks like a number as a number.

In many cases that's OK, but e.g. the Recording device ID (a 1 in your .cfg file) could also be an alpha string.

Luc