outputformat

Usage

>> outputformat [channelslist] [support] [type [= <format-type>]]

Security

Open.

Description

Reports or sets the format used to transmit data over the communications link; this format applies to both 'Fetched' data, and live 'Streamed' data if available. If no arguments are given, the current setting of the type parameter is reported.

The parameters currently supported are:

  1. channelslist  This reports a list of names and units for the active channels, in order. This list is helpful in identifying the channel corresponding to each value in the transmitted data. Any channels which have been turned off are excluded. The list will expand as support is added for more sensor types, so not all firmware versions will support every sensor type listed. If there is more than one channel of a particular type, the same information is reported for all of them.
    The list of all possible names is given below in alphabetical order. Some are quite generic, others are very sensor specific :
    • backscatter
    • BTEX
    • calphase
    • CDOM
    • chlorophylll
    • conductivity
    • crude_oil
    • custom_fluorometer
    • cyanobacteria
    • depth
    • dissolved-02
    • fluoroescein
    • fluorometry-UV
    • measurement_count
    • methane
    • optical_brighteners
    • ORP
    • PAR
    • partial CO2 pressure
    • period
    • pH
    • phycocyanin
    • phycoerythrin
    • pressure
    • pressure_period
    • refined_fuels
    • rhodamine
    • salinity
    • specific_conductivity
    • speed of sound
    • temperature
    • temperature_period
    • transmittance
    • turbidity
    • voltage

  2. support reports the formats which are available.
    At present, the formats which may be supported are:
    1. caltext01, Calibrated ASCII output.
      The output starts with a timestamp giving years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds and thousandths (milliseconds), punctuated as shown. A value for each channel is then sent; this is the measured parameter after conversion to physical units according to the instrument's current calibration. All values are shown to 4 decimal places. A comma and space separate the timestamp and values. 
      Format:
      YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.ttt, <value1>, <value2>, ... 

      Example for a 3-channel logger:
      2012-09-10 11:24:14.000, 38.6664, 21.5183, 10.9601

    2. caltext02, Calibrated ASCII output.
      The output starts with a timestamp giving years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds and thousandths (milliseconds), punctuated as shown. A value for each channel is then sent; this is the measured parameter after conversion to physical units according to the instrument's current calibration. All values are shown to 4 decimal places. Following the value, and separated from it by a space, is a short string representing the units of measurement. A comma and space separate the timestamp, and the information for each channel. 
      Format:
      YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.ttt, <value1 units1>, <value2 units2>, ... 

      Example for a 3-channel logger CTD logger:
      2012-09-10 11:52:21.000, 38.6671 mS/cm, 22.0217 C, 10.9596 dBar 

    3. caltext03, Calibrated ASCII output.
      The output starts with a timestamp giving years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds and thousandths (milliseconds), punctuated as shown. A value for each channel is then sent; this is the measured parameter after conversion to physical units according to the instrument's current calibration. All values are shown with enough significant digits ensuring no loss of resolution. A comma and space separate the timestamp and values. 
      Format:
      YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.ttt, <value1>, <value2>, ... 
       
      Example for a 3-channel logger CTD logger:
      2012-09-10 11:52:21.000, 38.6671142, 22.0217241, 10.9596633

    4. caltext04, Calibrated ASCII output.
      The output starts with a timestamp giving years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds and thousandths (milliseconds), punctuated as shown. A value for each channel is then sent; this is the measured parameter after conversion to physical units according to the instrument's current calibration. All values are shown in 'engineering-notation' floating point (same as scientific notation except that the exponents are constrained to be multiples of three) with enough significant digits ensuring no loss of resolution. A comma and space separate the timestamp and values. 
      Format:
      YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.ttt, <value1>, <value2>, ...  
       
      Example for a 3-channel logger CTD logger:
      2012-09-10 11:52:21.000, 38.6671142e+000, 22.0217124e+000, 1.95962418e+003

  3. type [= caltext01 | caltext02 | caltext03 | caltext04 ] set and/or report the current output format type.
    Not all instruments support all the formats; use the support option to check which formats are available.

Note that for all the caltext formats, any individual channel value may be replaced by one of the following:

  • Error-<EC>: an identifiable error occurred on this channel; for a list of the possible 2-digit error codes <EC>, see the paragraph 'Error Codes' in the Section 'Sample data standard format'.
  • nan: the value is Not A Number in IEEE floating point format, which indicates an internal problem with calculating the value.
  • inf / -inf: attempting to calculate the value produced a result outside the range which can be represented.
  • ###: the channel is not calibrated, so an output value could not be calculated.

Examples

>> outputformat

<< outputformat type = caltext01

>> outputformat channelslist

<< outputformat channelslist = temperature (C), pressure (dbar)

>> outputformat support

<< outputformat support = caltext01, caltext02, caltext03, caltext04

>> outputformat type = caltext02

<< outputformat type = caltext02

Errors

Error E0108 invalid argument to command: '<invalid-argument>'
The command was given with an argument which is unrecognized or misplaced.