Campbell Scientific RTDAQ Software - Manual (Page 357)

Appendix A. Campbell Scientific File
Formats
Campbell Scientific, Inc. uses different formats for data that is stored on external PC
cards, datalogger communication software, and in collected PC files. The data formats
are, by default, written to the PC with a DAT extension (*.dat). The following sections will
focus on the format of these PC files, discuss the data formats that exist in the datalogger
and on PC cards, and describe methods for converting binary data formats.
A.1 PC File Data Formats
Data from RTDAQ’s dataloggers are saved to the PC as TOA5 files or TOB1
binary files. Uncollected data from PC cards in CR1000, CR3000, CR5000
and CR9000X dataloggers are saved as TOB2 or TOB3 binary format.
A.1.1 TOA5
TOA5 is a text-based file format with extensive information in the header.
This format has the following features:
• Contains a text header that provides the following information:
• The file format type, the station name, the datalogger type, the
serial number, the OS version, the datalogger program name, the
program signature, and the table name.
• The field name for each of the data values.
• The units for each field as determined by the datalogger
program.
• The processing performed in the datalogger to produce each
value in the table.
• A timestamp and record number can optionally be included as part of the
record data. If the timestamp is present, it will be formatted with sub-
second resolution.
• Data values are formatted as comma separated text suitable for importing
into spreadsheet or database applications.
• Each TOA5 file contains data from only one table.
A-1