Partial Importing of ASCII Files and supported Third Party Files

Partial importing is available for ASCII files plus the following third party file formats:

• comma-separated(CSV)

• pCLAMP (ABF, DAT)

• Sound (WAV)

When using the Import Wizard to import an ASCII file, you set up the partial import on the Wizard's Data Selection page. The partial import settings, along with other import settings, can be saved to an import filter file or to a worksheet template and re-used later.

If you are using the Import Multiple ASCII method to import ASCII files, controls for partial import are to be found in the impASC dialog box, under the Partial Import branch of Import Options. You can use these controls to define both column and row ranges (From and To). In addition, you can specify Read Rows and Skip Data Rows factors.

For supported third-party file types, specify partial importing options in the associated X-Function dialog box (for instance, in the imppCLAMP dialog box that opens when you select a pCLAMP file for import). In each of these third-party import dialog boxes, there is a Partial Import branch under Import Options.

Note that any of these partial import settings can be saved to a Dialog Theme and recalled later. For more information, see Dialog Themes.

Partial import of ASCII files with the Import Wizard

On the Data Selection page of the Import Wizard, there is a Partial Import checkbox. When selected, the From/To Column and From/To Row controls become available. Use the accompanying text boxes to specify the data import range. Note that a To value of 0 causes all data to be imported.

Additional control is provided by the Skip Data Rows and Read Rows controls:

• If Skip Data Rows = 0, no rows are skipped. Read Rows is disabled.

• If Skip Data Rows > 0, then import Read Rows and skip Skip Data Rows. This is repeated until the end of the file is reached or the Partial Import range settings are satisfied.

Partial import of ASCII files with the Import Multiple ASCII method

To import part of an ASCII file using the Import Multiple ASCII method:

1. Click the Import Multiple ASCII button on the Standard toolbar.

or

1. Select File: Import: Multiple ASCII from the menu.

These actions open the Import Multiple ASCII dialog box.

2. Select the file extension from the Files of Type drop down list.

3. Add your files -- note that a single file is okay -- one at a time or press CTRL or SHIFT to select multiple files, click Add File(s). Make sure that the Show Options Dialog checkbox is selected and click OK. This opens the ImpASC dialog box.

4. Expand the Import Options branch, then expand Partial Import.

5. Select the Partial Import checkbox. Specify the column range with the From/To Column text boxes and the row range with the From/To Row text boxes. If desired, enter a positive number for Skip Data Rows and another positive number for Read Rows.

6. Click OK to close the dialog.

Partial import of third party file types

The following example illustrates what is a typical partial import of a third-party file:

1. Select File: Import: pCLAMP (ABF, DAT, AB?) from the menu. This opens the pCLAMP dialog box.
2. Browse to the Samples\Import and Export\pCLAMP folder and select 96322001.ABF. Click Open. This opens a secondary dialog box -- imppCLAMP -- which contains controls specific to pCLAMP import.
3. Under File Info and Data Selection, expand Partial Import. Select the Partial Import checkbox, clear the Auto check boxes (next to Start time and End time). Enter values in the Skip Samples, Start time and End time boxes.
4. Click OK to close the dialog. The file -- minus whatever data was filtered out -- is imported into the workbook window.