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2. Input and Output Files

2.1 Input Files

Normal uses the input file normal.inp to control the running of the program. If this file cannot be found in either lower case or upper case characters, Normal will stop and complain. The form and contents of normal.inp will be discussed further in Chapter 3. Normal also needs a list of input data files for normalization and alignment. The input data should be xmu data, that is absorption data as a function of energy. There are no constraints on the input energy grid. The data file name can be up to 72 characters long and can contain a directory path. The file name and path must be allowed by your operating system.

2.2 Running Normal, Output Messages, Warnings, and Errors

Normal is a compiled program, so should be executable from the command interface on your computer. Normal writes the name of each file containing the data as it is processed. If Normal encounters a problem, the run-time messages will describe it. If the problem is serious, Normal will complain and stop running. The error messages that Normal writes should supply enough information to correct the problems encountered. If this is not true, contact the author.

2.3 Output Files

As soon as each data set is processed it will be written to the output file. If the output is a UWXAFS binary file, the data set will be appended as a new record. If it is an ASCII file, that file will be written to disk.

This is the naming convention for the output files:

  1. If an output file name is specified in the input file and the the UWXAFS binary format is chosen for the output file, that name will be used verbatim.
  2. If no output file name is specified and the UWXAFS binary format is chosen, the extension of the input file will be replaced with the extension nor for the normalized data and with der for the derivative data. The extension is defined as all characters after the final dot (.) in the file name. This definition of extension is unambiguous on all operating systems.
  3. If an output file name is specified and the ASCII format is chosen, then successive output files are differentiated by adding numeric extensions. The standard will have the extension 001, the next data set will have 002, and so on.
  4. If no output file name is specified and the ASCII format is chosen, each output file will be named by appending _norm or _der to the filename before the extension. Note that on MS DOS machines, this may cause the file name to exceed eight characters.

2.4 Data File Formats

As for all UWXAFS3.0 data analysis programs, there are two options for the format of the data files. The data may be in either a specially formatted binary file known as a UWXAFS file (also called an RDF file), or in a specially formatted ASCII column file. More information on these file formats, including the format specifications and a discussion of the relative merits of the two file formats can be found in the UWXAFS3.0 document fileh.doc. The two file handling formats can be mixed in Normal, so that the input data can be in the UWXAFS format and the output data can be in the ASCII format, or vice versa.

If the input data is in UWXAFS format, it must be in a file of file type xmu. Both the file name and record key (either nkey or skey) must be specified for the input. Output files in the UWXAFS format will be written to a single file. Output files in the ASCII format will be written to files named by the convention described above.

If the input data is in ASCII format, it must be in a file with one or more document lines, followed by a required line of minus signs ( - ), followed by an ignored line containing column labels, and then columns of numerical data for x, and y(x).

Output files in the ASCII format will each contain only one set of data, and will be named as described above. They will be written to a two column file with a header like that described above. Each line in the header will begin with a hash (#), which is the character denoting a comment line in the plotting program Gnuplot.


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