Downloading U30 Data Files

Data files that are read out from a U30 station when the device connects to HOBOlink are available for download. Data is available in .dtf format and optional text file format (.csv) if "Save data as text file" was selected in Readout Configuration.

To download a single file:

  1. Click Data and then Data Files.
  2. Click a file to download it.
  3. Save the file or open it immediately as prompted by your browser. Use HOBOware® to open a .dtf file or Microsoft® Excel® or a similar program to open a .csv file.

To download multiple files:

  1. Click Data and then Data Files.
  2. Check the box next to the files you wish to download.
  3. Click the Download as Zip button at the bottom of the page. A zip file is created in the default location determined by your browser settings. When opening the zip file, the files will be extracted and saved in the default location controlled by your browser.

A new icon appears next to the file name if it has not been downloaded.

To change the list of data files displayed, select one or more drop down menus at the top of the list. You can change the list to show all files or only data (.dtf) or text (.csv) files from all devices or a single device for the past day, week, month, year, or all time.

To delete a single file, click the icon at the end of the row for the file you wish to delete. To delete multiple files, click the checkbox next to each file name and then click the Delete button at the bottom of the page.

To browse through multiple pages of files, use the arrows, page number icons, or page number drop-down list at the bottom right of the page.

When you open a .dtf file in HOBOware, a Plot Setup window appears in which you can select the series you want to display, use applicable data assistants as desired, and adjust the Offset from GMT if needed. This offset is automatically set based on the time zone selected in General Configuration when the device was launched. While the graphs viewed in HOBOlink automatically account for switches between Daylight Saving Time and Standard Time, files in HOBOware do not. If a switch to Daylight Saving Time or Standard Time occurs during the period of time included in the data file, the Offset from GMT will be the one in place at launch time. For example, if the device was launched in September during Eastern Daylight Time, the Offset from GMT would be -4. If you then were to open a .dtf from that device with data from September through December, the Offset from GMT in HOBOware would still be -4 even though there was a switch to Eastern Standard Time during that time period. You could change the Offset from GMT in the Plot Setup window to -5 if desired. If you were to then relaunch the device in December and open the subsequent data file in HOBOware, the Offset from GMT would then be -5 as that device was relaunched during Eastern Standard Time.

Text (.csv) files contain two sections: a header that is formatted using YAML (Yet Another Markup Language, see YAML.org) and a data section in comma delimited format. If you open the text file in Excel, the Text Import Wizard gives you the option to "Start Import at Row x." Type in the first row of the data section to remove the header information from the file.

The sample text file in this section shows the header and data sections of the file. Within the header, there are the following three subsections:

  • Data Format. This section includes information about how the text file is formatted:
    • dateTimeDelimiter, decimalSeparator, and dateDelimiter. These entries identify (between double quotation marks) the character used to separate date time, the character used as a decimal, and the character used to separate data values from one another respectively.
    • dateFormat and timeFormat. These entries describe the way dates and times are formatted within the file as determined by the preference settings in HOBOware and the regional format settings of your operating system. For example, 07/31/13 would be represented by MM/dd/yy (single-digit values have leading zeros). The syntax is as follows: HH = 24-hour time (e.g. 15:00:00) and hh = 12-hour-time (e.g. 3:00:00 PM); this time format is followed with "a" to denote an AM/PM indicator (i.e. hh:mm:ss a). MM = months and mm = minutes. SS = milliseconds and ss = seconds.
    • gmtOffset and daylightSavings. These entries indicate the offset in hours from GMT on the computer that launched the device and whether the computer was in Daylight Saving time (true or false).
  • Logger Info. This section lists information about the device associated with the file, including the launch description, model number, and serial number.
  • Series Info. This section lists each data series in order by column, excluding the first column (the number '#" column) and the date/time column. Each series has its own subsection that includes the series name, type, and unit name.

The header and data sections in the text file are separated by a row of hyphens. Within the data section, the first row consists of the column headings, with each heading enclosed by double quotation marks (" ") and separated by a comma. The first column header is "#" for number and the second column header is "Time" for the date/time. The remaining columns identify each series name and unit type, if applicable, in the format "Series Name, Unit" (enclosed in double quotation marks). Each series has its own column. No zeros or spaces are used for fields that do not contain values. Rows of data are separated with a paragraph return. Thousands separators are not used. For example, two thousand is expressed as 2000, not 2,000.