[Users] Defining formats for ASCII import

[Raman Singh]

Dear users,

Importing Ascii data is often necessary to get data into OpendTect, and to get it out for usage in other packages.

One of the problems with this is that everybody seems to have another view of what is a good im/export format, hence there hardly are standards. To counter this, we are starting to replace our normal import methods with a more generic approach, that should make a lot more possible, and is still easy to use.

In the 'stable' release, you can see this at work in the wavelet import. After selecting the file you can examine it, and you will see your data in a table. The window doesn't lock the application so you can keep it open as long as you like.

Now, you can define the format. As I've just opened a wavelet created by HRS's Strata, I can simply press the 'open file' icon, select 'Strata' and be done with it. However, that would not be very instructive for this context, so let's just pretend I have a new, unknown format.

The first thing I need to specify is the extent of the header, if any. I can select a fixed size (number of lines) for the header or a keyword that will define the end of the header. then I click on the 'define' button and tell the format definition where to read the information from. For header values, I have three options:
* Provide: user provides a value
* Fixed: get data from a fixed row/col
* Keyword: a fixed column in a row that starts with a certain keyword

For data values, I need to select the corresponding column number. I can also specify the unit of measure (where it is relevant) by clicking on the corresponding icon. ( this icon has been replaced by a drop-down list in version 3.1.6 ).

If I don't want to reuse the format just defined, I can click 'OK' and go ahead with the import exercise. But in most of the cases I would like to save the format before that and when I want to import another file with the same format, I can just open my saved format and save myself from going through the whole exercise of defining the format again.

In version 3.1.6 you will find this feature available for pickset and horizon import as well.

Wishing you all a happy new year and expecting your valuable feedback,

Best regards,
Raman 

-- 
Raman K Singh
dGB India
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Hiranandani Gardens, Powai
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India

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