Add comment in file's properties with "write to spreadsheet"

[Guillaume.O]

Hi,
I use a program which wants a spreadsheet without any text, but i need to insert some comments/description
of my acquisition with this file (sampling rate, names of sensors, time of acquisition...). A couple of people use
excel to post-process the data so I make two kind of file. The second has the description into the spreadsheet and
it's not a problem for excel. But into the first one there are only columns of voltages.
That's why I want to insert the description into the comment part of the file properties. That way it will not be
a problem with the prostprocessing program and we will still have some kind of information of the acquisition.

thanks for your help.

Guillaume

ps: Labview V11 with all toolkits

[Norbert_B]

Guillaume,

you can use TDMS rather than textfiles for keeping data together with additional, custom information.

You can download the Excel TDMS plugin for free to view TDMS with Excel.

hope this helps,

Norbert 

[smercurio_fc]

This has nothing to do with you specific issue, but I also see two big red warning lights: sequence structures and local variables. Wanna bet that one of these things is there to prevent a race condition caused the other thing?

[Guillaume.O]

Thanks for your answer, I know this tool for excel but in my case,
my program needs a spreadsheet (ASCII) and not a tdm file as input.

It can't run a tdm file.

PS: find attached an example of what kind of file i need and the other version for excel with comments i want to insert in the other on.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6ZFgVdicXYJWmJ4VU9Tb0Q0LTA
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6ZFgVdicXYJaURDNFJmQ1NPUVk

[Guillaume.O]

yeh, that's right. In fact my VI is used to make the ignition and the pressure acquisition of a manometric bomb.
It burns in 0.1ms so I prefer separate each step of the acquisition.

[Norbert_B]

It seems that you files do not have a file format (like xlsx).

I don't get the point:

Is your application source or sink for the spread sheet files? 

Norbert 

[Guillaume.O]

- the file is an ASCII file, I could add the extension .txt but my program accept the raw file so I don't add the extension (only by laziness).

- the VI produces the data and create the file then the other program smooths the data and it also gives the derivative, so it's sink for the spreadsheet file.

Infact, I would like to add some metadata to my spreadsheet with is .txt or something else but it has to be a raw ASCII file without any text or complex things in.

[Norbert_B]

ASCII is always considered to be text...

The major issue i see is that the program analyzing the data reads that ASCII spreadsheet file. Are you sure that adding info into this does not break the analysis?

If it does not, you can use the file IO functions to pre- or append the information to your spreadsheet.

If it does, you have no chance to add that information...

Norbert 

[Guillaume.O]

The metadata have no influence on the analysis. The program can run it without any problem.

I don't understand how can I write my comment into the metadata of my file. I only found
tools to write into the file and nothing about the metadata.

As suggested before, I add the extension .txt (it took 5s to be done...)

[Norbert_B]

I am not sure if i understand your request.

Your screenshot from the inital post already contains code to insert additional text to the file as prefix.

The bottom line includes a comment with "adding as file property". What do you consider to be a file property here?

Spoiler

File properties are e.g. date of creation or file size

 Norbert