Controls: DD/Open >> DAT Format

This dialog appears whenever you attempt to open any file that Daqarta determines is not a valid .DQA or .WAV file, regardless of its actual extension. Daqarta calls such files .DAT files.

Since Daqarta can't read the format from the file itself, this dialog allows you to specify it manually. If the file actually has a header (which Daqarta can't understand) preceding the data, you can tell Daqarta how many bytes to skip. Otherwise, the file is treated as headerless raw data.

Once specify the data format, Daqarta will dutifully use it when opening the file. If you see what appears to be garbage, you can try opening the same file again with a different format.

The .DAT options allow you to view the contents of files that were created on other systems with incompatible or even unknown formats. Once you have the proper format, you can then save a copy as a .DQA or .WAV file that Daqarta understands, or as a .TXT file for some other program, and you won't need to use the .DAT dialog in the future. If the file is longer than 1024 samples per channel, only the current 1024 samples will be saved.

Note that Arb and Play files for use with the Daqarta Generator may also be .DAT files, but since they must be able to be loaded automatically from the .GEN setup they are always assumed to be mono signed 16-bit format by default.

If you have some other format that you wish to use for Arb, open it as a data file, set the proper format in the .DAT dialog, and save a copy as a .DQA or .WAV file for later loading by Arb. Since you can only save files of 1024 samples per channel this way, the method is not useful for Play.

Arb and Play files may only be Mono or Stereo, though you can have 4-Chan .DAT for normal data files.

• Bits (8, 12 Low, 12 High, 16)
• Format (Signed, Unsigned)
• Invert
• Channels (Mono, Stereo, 4-Chan)
• Sample Rate
• Skip Bytes

See also File Menu, Open Existing Data File

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