Get Started with MDF-Files
This example shows you how to access information about an MDF-file and its contents.
View File Details
View metadata of an MDF-file using mdfInfo by specifying the file name. This sample file was created using Vector CANape™.
fileInfo = mdfInfo("CANapeBasic.MF4")fileInfo =
MDFInfo with properties:
File Details
Name: "CANapeBasic.MF4"
Path: "/tmp/Bdoc23b_2361005_1548966/tp60a7197f/vnt-ex51113426/CANapeBasic.MF4"
Author: "Otmar Schneider"
Department: "PMC @ Vector Informatik GmbH"
Project: "Demo"
Subject: "XCPSim"
Comment: "Example file created with Vector CANape"
Version: "4.10"
InitialTimestamp: 2016-04-21 14:27:17.000010630
Creator Details
ProgramIdentifier: "MCD14.02"
CreatorVendorName: "Vector Informatik GmbH"
CreatorToolName: "CANape"
CreatorToolVersion: "14.0.20.2386"
CreatorUserName: "visosr"
CreatorComment: "created"
File Contents
Attachment: [0x7 table]
ChannelGroupCount: 2
Basic details about the MDF-file are available as properties under section File Details.
Information about the originating tool of the MDF-file is available under section Creator Details.
Under section File Contents, information about the attachments and channel groups within the file is available.
View Channel Group Details
Data in an MDF-file is stored in channels contained within channel groups. This sample file contains two channel groups, as seen in the ChannelGroupCount property.
fileInfo.ChannelGroupCount
ans = uint64
2
View details about the two channel groups in this MDF-file using mdfChannelGroupInfo.
chanGrpInfo = mdfChannelGroupInfo("CANapeBasic.MF4")chanGrpInfo=2×13 table
GroupNumber AcquisitionName Comment NumSamples DataSize Sorted SourceName SourcePath SourceComment SourceType SourceBusType SourceBusChannelNumber SourceSimulated
___________ _______________ _______ __________ ________ ______ ___________ __________ _____________ __________ _____________ ______________________ _______________
1 10 ms 10 ms 1993 153461 true <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> ECU CAN 1 false
2 100ms 100ms 199 23084 true <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> ECU CAN 1 false
View Channel Details
View details about all the channels in this MDF-file using mdfChannelInfo.
chanInfoDefault = mdfChannelInfo("CANapeBasic.MF4")chanInfoDefault=42×13 table
Name GroupNumber GroupNumSamples GroupAcquisitionName GroupComment GroupSourceName GroupSourcePath DisplayName Unit Comment ExtendedNamePrefix SourceName SourcePath
______________________________________ ___________ _______________ ____________________ ____________ _______________ _______________ ___________ ___________ _________________________________________________ __________________ ___________ __________
"Counter_B4" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Single bit demo signal (bit from a byte shifting) XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"Counter_B5" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Single bit demo signal (bit from a byte shifting) XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"Counter_B6" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Single bit demo signal (bit from a byte shifting) XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"Counter_B7" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Single bit demo signal (bit from a byte shifting) XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"PWM" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Pulse width signal from PWM_level and Triangle XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"PWMFiltered" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Low pass filtered PWM signal XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"PWM_Level" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"Triangle" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Triangle test signal used for PWM output PWM XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"ampl" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Amplitude of channel 1-3 XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"channel1" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> FLOAT demo signal (sine wave) XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"map1_8_8_uc_measure" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> 8*8 fixed axis, permanently morphing XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"syncArrayStruct.mem_charArray[000]" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"syncArrayStruct.mem_charArray[001]" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"syncArrayStruct.mem_doubleArray[000]" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"syncArrayStruct.mem_doubleArray[001]" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"syncArrayStruct.mem_floatArray[000]" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
⋮
By default, the function returns minimal channel metadata. Specify the AdditionalMetadata option as true to view the additional metadata as well.
chanInfoAdditional = mdfChannelInfo("CANapeBasic.MF4", AdditionalMetadata=true)chanInfoAdditional=42×25 table
Name GroupNumber GroupNumSamples GroupAcquisitionName GroupComment GroupSourceName GroupSourcePath DisplayName Unit Comment ExtendedNamePrefix SourceName SourcePath Type SyncType DataType NumBits ComponentType CompositionType ConversionType SourceComment SourceType SourceBusType SourceBusChannelNumber SourceSimulated
______________________________________ ___________ _______________ ____________________ ____________ _______________ _______________ ___________ ___________ _________________________________________________ __________________ ___________ __________ ___________ ________ ___________________________ _______ _______________ _______________ ______________ _____________ __________ _____________ ______________________ _______________
"Counter_B4" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Single bit demo signal (bit from a byte shifting) XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None IntegerUnsignedLittleEndian 1 None None ValueToText "" ECU CAN 0 false
"Counter_B5" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Single bit demo signal (bit from a byte shifting) XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None IntegerUnsignedLittleEndian 1 None None ValueToText "" ECU CAN 0 false
"Counter_B6" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Single bit demo signal (bit from a byte shifting) XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None IntegerUnsignedLittleEndian 1 None None ValueToText "" ECU CAN 0 false
"Counter_B7" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Single bit demo signal (bit from a byte shifting) XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None IntegerUnsignedLittleEndian 1 None None ValueToText "" ECU CAN 0 false
"PWM" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Pulse width signal from PWM_level and Triangle XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None IntegerUnsignedLittleEndian 8 None None ValueToText "" ECU CAN 0 false
"PWMFiltered" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Low pass filtered PWM signal XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None IntegerUnsignedLittleEndian 8 None None Unspecified "" ECU CAN 0 false
"PWM_Level" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None IntegerSignedLittleEndian 8 None None Unspecified "" ECU CAN 0 false
"Triangle" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Triangle test signal used for PWM output PWM XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None IntegerSignedLittleEndian 8 None None Unspecified "" ECU CAN 0 false
"ampl" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Amplitude of channel 1-3 XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None RealLittleEndian 32 None None Unspecified "" ECU CAN 0 false
"channel1" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> FLOAT demo signal (sine wave) XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None RealLittleEndian 32 None None Unspecified "" ECU CAN 0 false
"map1_8_8_uc_measure" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> 8*8 fixed axis, permanently morphing XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None IntegerUnsignedLittleEndian 8 None Array Unspecified "" ECU CAN 0 false
"syncArrayStruct.mem_charArray[000]" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None IntegerSignedLittleEndian 8 StructureMember None Unspecified "" ECU CAN 0 false
"syncArrayStruct.mem_charArray[001]" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None IntegerSignedLittleEndian 8 StructureMember None Unspecified "" ECU CAN 0 false
"syncArrayStruct.mem_doubleArray[000]" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None RealLittleEndian 64 StructureMember None Unspecified "" ECU CAN 0 false
"syncArrayStruct.mem_doubleArray[001]" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None RealLittleEndian 64 StructureMember None Unspecified "" ECU CAN 0 false
"syncArrayStruct.mem_floatArray[000]" 2 199 100ms 100ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim FixedLength None RealLittleEndian 32 StructureMember None Unspecified "" ECU CAN 0 false
⋮
Find Channels in an MDF-File
mdfChannelInfo can also be used to easily query for channel details within an MDF-file if the name is fully or partially known. The function offers an option Channel that supports wildcards for string matching.
To find channels with name being exactly "PWM":
pwmChanInfoExact = mdfChannelInfo("CANapeBasic.MF4", Channel="PWM")
pwmChanInfoExact=1×13 table
Name GroupNumber GroupNumSamples GroupAcquisitionName GroupComment GroupSourceName GroupSourcePath DisplayName Unit Comment ExtendedNamePrefix SourceName SourcePath
_____ ___________ _______________ ____________________ ____________ _______________ _______________ ___________ ___________ ______________________________________________ __________________ ___________ __________
"PWM" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Pulse width signal from PWM_level and Triangle XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
To find channels whose name contains a substring "PWM":
pwmChanInfoWildcards = mdfChannelInfo("CANapeBasic.MF4", Channel="*PWM*")
pwmChanInfoWildcards=3×13 table
Name GroupNumber GroupNumSamples GroupAcquisitionName GroupComment GroupSourceName GroupSourcePath DisplayName Unit Comment ExtendedNamePrefix SourceName SourcePath
_____________ ___________ _______________ ____________________ ____________ _______________ _______________ ___________ ___________ ______________________________________________ __________________ ___________ __________
"PWM" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Pulse width signal from PWM_level and Triangle XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"PWMFiltered" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> Low pass filtered PWM signal XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
"PWM_Level" 1 1993 10 ms 10 ms <undefined> XCPsim "" <undefined> <undefined> XCPsim <undefined> XCPsim
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