Data loading and saving

Use these guides to load data, correct its metadata, and save data from ImageTool. See ARPES data conventions for the coordinate and metadata names required by ARPES-specific tools.

Loading data files into Manager

Starting the Manager

Run itool-manager in an environment that contains ERLabPy, or open the standalone application. See Installing the standalone Manager for standalone installation.

Note

Changing bin widths for the first time after installation can take several minutes while the application builds caches. Later launches are faster.

Loading the files

  1. Choose File ‣ Add Data Files…, or drag the files into the Manager.

  2. Select the loader that matches the acquisition format.

  3. If required, expand Loader Extensions and enter temporary load options.

  4. Open the files and inspect the resulting dimensions, coordinates, and attributes in ImageTool.

To add or replace coordinates and attributes while loading files, use Acquisition Context.

Use Spreadsheet Metadata when values must come from an Excel workbook or public Google Sheet. See Adding logbook metadata while loading data for matching rules.

Note

For a scan recorded across several files, opening any member loads and concatenates the complete scan when the selected loader supports it. Choose the loader suffixed with Single File when only the selected file is required.

Use File ‣ Data Explorer or Ctrl+E when files must be previewed before loading. Use Opening Python data in ImageTool for data already present in Python.

When loaded data has more than four effective dimensions, select or aggregate dimensions in Reduce Dimensions to Open until the preview is a non-empty 2D, 3D, or 4D array.

Saving ImageTool data to a file

  1. Activate the ImageTool that contains the data to save.

  2. Choose File ‣ Save As….

  3. Select NetCDF, HDF5, or Igor Binary Wave (.ibw) from the file-type list.

  4. Choose the output path and save the file.

Open the saved file with xarray or ImageTool and confirm that its dimensions, coordinates, and attributes are present. Igor Binary Wave supports fewer dimensions and metadata structures than HDF5 or NetCDF.

Applying acquisition metadata while loading

Use Acquisition Context to add missing acquisition coordinates or attributes, or to replace incorrect values from the data files. Some endstations store incomplete or incorrect metadata.

Open File ‣ Acquisition Context… and enter the current values. You can enter fields directly or use Add from Selected ImageTool… to copy them from a selected ImageTool.

When the current context must be applied as you load new files, turn on Apply automatically when loading data from files and save. Update the context whenever acquisition conditions change.

Load one file and inspect its coordinates and attributes before applying the context to the rest of the acquisition. To change data that is already open, use Correcting metadata after loading.

Correcting metadata after loading

Select one or more ImageTools and choose Edit ‣ Metadata Editor…. Each row represents one ImageTool. Use Fields to choose which coordinates and attributes appear as columns, then edit or paste values as you would in a logbook.

A marker in the upper-right corner shows that a value was assigned in ImageTool after loading either from an acquisition context or manual assignment, rather than from the file metadata. Use Revert Assignment to restore its earlier value.

Inspect the edited coordinates and attributes before momentum conversion or fitting. Use Applying acquisition metadata while loading when the same correction must be applied while later files are loaded.