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PSD and PSS files
The file formats for these two files are the same, except that a PSS file contains no measurement data. Please note that PicoScope will compress files larger than 4 KB. If, therefore, you are saving a file with the intent of importing it into another application, ensure that you have set the SaveUncompressed flag in the .ini file to Yes.
A file is made up of a number of sections in the following format:
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Header
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Part 1
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Part 2
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Part 3
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The header is 8 bytes long and contains the following information:
Owner
Section type
Section number
Number of parts
The only useful items are the section type and the number of parts. Each part is preceded by a 32-bit byte count, which specifies the length of the remainder of the part (i.e. the length excluding the byte count.) Most sections contain only one part but data sections usually contain two or more.
There are four types of data section:
Single channel fast (section type =1)
Double channel fast (section type = 2)
Single channel slow- standard/chart recorder modes (section type =3)
Meter (section type = 4)
For a single-channel data block:
Part 1 contains information about how the data was collected
Part 2 contains an array of 2-byte ADC readings
Part 3 contains an array of 4-byte times
Data blocks with more than one channel are similar, but Parts 3 onwards contain data for subsequent channels, and the last Part contains the times.
.TXT files for scope windows
Column 1 is the time, usually in microseconds or nanoseconds. Column 2 is the voltage, in either millivolts or volts.
If there is more than one channel, the times and voltages for channel A appear first, then the times and voltages for channel B appear below, and so on. This is because readings for different channels may be collected at different times.
The same format is used when pasting scope data on the clipboard.
.TXT files for spectrum windows
Column 1 is the frequency, in Hz or kHz, and Column 2 is the power in volts or dB.
The same format is used when pasting spectrum data on the clipboard.
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