Simcenter Testing Solutions Minimum Header for Time Block Import from Excel into Testlab

Summary

This article takes a closer look at the header information required when importing time block data from excel into Testlab. This article addresses 3 questions: 1) What is the minimum header required? 2) Which additional information should be included in the header for improved reporting? 3) How do I automatically generate a time data block with an arbitrary header?

Details

1. Minimum header information

Upon activating a curve in a Testlab diagram, we can copy the values of that curve using a right-mouse click, see Figure 1.  If you activate more than one curve, the data for all curves will be copied.   

 

Figure 1:  Copying data values out of a Testlab diagram for export to Excel.

The data can then be directly pasted into Excel.  As seen in Figure 2, a number of attributes are inserted into Excel at the top of the data set.  We refer to this information as the "header".    Unfortunately, the user will not be able to influence the number or type of attributes.  However, once the data is in excel, the user can manually reduce the number of attributes contained in the header.  For the case of a time data block, the header must include information about the function class and the physical unit, see Figure 3. 
 

Figure 2:  Typical Excel data header.
 

 

Figure 3.  Minimum Excel header for a time data block.

Depicted in Figure 4 is an imported data set having the minimum 2-row header.  The legend contains only information about the function class "time".  Note also that the physical unit "Pa" has been recognized by Testlab and is correctly displayed. 

Figure 4.  Import of an excel time data block with minimum header length=2.

2.  Additional header information

You can add additional header information in order to enhance reporting.  It's best to select attributes out of the “Standard\Function\” family, for example "Standard\Function\Point id", as depicted in Figure 5. 

 

Figure 5.  Import of an excel time data block with header length=4.

3.  Automatic header creation

Through the use of multiple Excel sheets, it is possible to automatically assign a reduced header to your data.  For example, as we see in Figure 6, the raw Testlab data with full header is copied into the "Input" sheet in Excel.  An additional output sheet, in this case the "Lookup" sheet, contains the reduced header, plus a copy of the original data.  Be aware that you can use the VLOOKUP function in excel to automate the copy operation.  Also, your output sheet can be used for additional calculations on your data, for example for adding an offset.    

Upon saving the Excel file and refreshing the Testlab Navigator Browser Tree, the Excel data with reduced header can be dropped into a diagram, see Figure 7. 

Figure 6.  Excel sheet "Input" with raw Testlab data.   

 

Figure 7.  Import of data with reduced header from the Excel sheet "Lookup" into Testlab.

With this you can visualize the data in a testlab display. With copy/paste inside the navigator, you can have it as a block in the active section. 
If you would like to have it as an 'LDSF' file as part of a project/section, please check the article How to import time data (LDSF throughput or other data formats) into a project in Simcenter Testlab




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