opening a file algorithmically

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I am trying to open files algorithmically in an igor procedure. My approach is to generate a text wave containing all the filenames and then to use a while loop to get the file path from the wave, open the file, perform the analysis, and then move on to the next loop iteration. 

Here's what I have so far that doesn't work:

Function IndAn()
 
    wave filenamewave //This is the text wave with the file paths in it 
    
    variable odex=0
    do
        string tempnamestring=filenamewave[3] //try to make a string that I can use in the line below
        LoadWave /D /E=0 /G /H  /K=0 /L={112,113,0,0,0} /O /W/A tempnamestring  
        odex+=1
    while (odex<(numpnts(filenamewave))
    
end

I've also tried using "filenamewave[3]"  directly in the LoadWave command. In both cases I get the error:

got "filenamewave" instead of a string variable or string function name.

Any advice on the easiest way for me to pull out a string from a wave and use it in a command this way?

 

 

If indeed filenamewave is a text wave then you need to have:

Wave/T filenamewave //This is the text wave with the file paths in it

The /T flag tells the program the correct format. Then you can assign a certain entry of this wave to a string, but I guess you rather wanted to write this:

string tempnamestring=filenamewave[odex] //try to make a string that I can use in the line below

By the way, be careful with do-while loops, since they can easily soft-lock Igor if you have a mistake and the loop runs forever. This is a classic case where you rather want to use a for-loop. do-while loops are useful in cases where the number of iterations are not fixed from the start.

July 30, 2021 at 12:33 pm - Permalink

You need to declare the string outside the loop and give it a value inside the loop. I also added your counter to the filenamewave

Function IndAn()
 
    wave filenamewave //This is the text wave with the file paths in it
   
    variable odex=0
    string tempnamestring=""
    do
        tempnamestring=filenamewave[odex] //try to make a string that I can use in the line below
        LoadWave /D /E=0 /G /H  /K=0 /L={112,113,0,0,0} /O /W/A tempnamestring  
        odex+=1
    while (odex<(numpnts(filenamewave))
   
end

Have you checked that your LoadWave line works on a single file?

 

Just for inspiration here is an example where the user selects the waves to be loaded

Function MyFunction()
//  Test function
 
    //  Displays an open file dialog, showing files with the extension .txt. Allows multiple files to be selected
    NewPath/Q/O/Z MyDataPath "C:"
    Open/D/F="Text Files (*.txt):.txt;All Files (*.*):.*;" /R/MULT=1 /P=MyDataPath RefNum
    
    //  Check that at least one file was selected
    if (CmpStr(S_FileName, "")!=0)
 
        //  Calculates the number of files selected to be loaded
        String AllFileNames=S_FileName
        Variable NumberOfFiles=ItemsInList(AllFileNames, "\r")
        
        //  Loads each file one at a time
        String FullFileName="", SimpleFileName=""
        Variable i=0
        for (i=0; i<NumberOfFiles; i+=1)
        
            //  Extracts the name of the next file
            FullFileName=StringFromList(i, AllFileNames, "\r")
            
            //  Removes  the path information and extension from the filename, e.g 'c:data:xps:20141028xps0005.txt' becomes '20141028xps0005'
            SimpleFileName=ParseFilePath(3, FullFileName, ":", 0, 0)
 
            //  Loads the selected file
            LoadWave /O/N=$SimpleFileName /K=2 /L={0, 0, 0, 0, 1} /Q /J FullFileName
        endfor
    endif
end

 

July 30, 2021 at 12:48 pm - Permalink