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The CITIfile Data Format and Keyword Reference
This appendix contains the following information:
n
The
CITIllle
Data Format
q
Description and Overview
q
Definition Of
CITIflle
Terms
q
CITIfile Examples
n
The
CITIllle
Keyword Reference.
The
CITIfile
Data Format
Description
and
Overview
CITIfile is a standardized data format, used for exchanging data between different computers
and instruments.
CITIflle
is an abbreviation for “Common Instrumentation Transfer and
Interchange
file”.
This standard has been a group effort between instrument designers and
designers of computer-aided design programs. As much as possible,
GIlWile
meets current needs
for data transfer, and it was designed to be expandable so it can meet future needs.
CITIfile defines how the data inside an ASCII package is formatted. Since it is not tied to any
particular disk or transfer format, it can be used with any operating system (BASIC, DOS,
UNIX, etc), with any disk format
(LIF,
DOS, 1, etc), or with any transfer mechanism (disk,
LAN, GPIB, etc).
By careful implementation of the standard, instruments and software packages using CITIfile
are able to load and work with data created on another instrument or computer. It is possible,
for example, for a network analyzer to directly load and display data measured on a scalar
analyzer, or for a software package running on a computer to read data measured on the
network analyzer.
Dalq
Formats
There are two main types of data formats: binary and ASCII. CITIllle uses the ASCII text
format. While this format does take up more bytes of space than a binary format, ASCII data
is a transportable, standard type of format which is supported by all operating systems. In
addition, the ASCII format is accepted by most text editors. This allows
files
to be created,
examined, and edited easily, making
CITIfiIe
easier to test and debug.
File
and
Operating
System
Formats
CITIhle
was designed to be independent of the data storage mechanism, and therefore may
be implemented for any file system. However transfer between file systems may sometimes
be necessary. Any commercially available software that has the ability to transfer ASCII files
between systems may be used to transfer
CITIRle
data.
The
ClTlfile
Data Format and Keyword Reference
A-l