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DMM DOS Q&A

The DOS version of DMM (DataMate Manager) has been replaced by a Windows version. Most of the problems and work-arounds presented in this FAQ are solved by DMM for Windows.

Question: DMM DOS- How do I email data files? We've got a man on site taking readings. He then emails the data to a man at the office who will process the data. What files should the man on site email to the man at the office? How does the man at the office process these files?

Answer: Follow the instructions below - or - , even better, download the Windows version of DMM. The Windows version makes this much easier. There's even a "how to" in the manual.

Basic Operations (Man on Site)

  1. Using DMM, create project database and enter all inclinometer installations in database (one time only).
  2. Using DMM, transfer installations from project database to DataMate. (one time only).
  3. Do inclinometer surveys, storing data in DataMate.
  4. Using DMM, retrieve data from DataMate into project database.

Email data files (Man on site)

  1. Using DMM, open project database. (May already be open from step above).
  2. Select installation, then use 'open next' to show dataset window.
  3. Select most recent dataset (press L for list and go to bottom of list). Press Enter to select.
  4. Press W for (write ascii) and choose A for ascii.
  5. Press F for file and enter a (unique) filename. It doesn't matter what you name the file, but it's a good idea to make the name meaningful because there will be many of these files. Suggestion: use 4 characters to identify the installation and 4 characters for the date. The default extension is .prn but you can make it anything you want.
  6. Export other datasets as necessary.
  7. Zip up all files so they can be emailed as a single attachment.

Receive Email Attachments (Man at Office)

  1. Make directory for data files. For example, make a data directory called c:\data. Follow DOS conventions for directory names (i.e. do not use long names or spaces in the name or the path).
  2. Save the email attachments in your data directory. Unzip the files. Create Project Database to Hold Data (Man at Office) 1. Using DMM or DU, create project database (one time only). Press F to create project. Answer Y to create? Answer Y to create sensor file. The name of the project database must follow dos conventions and should be meaningful, but does not affect data reduction, etc. Tip: Create the project database in the same directory as the data files that you just unzipped. That way you won't have to enter path names later on.

Import Data (Man at Office)

  1. Press G for Get Files.
  2. Press A for Ascii.
  3. File list appears with names of data files.
  4. Highlight the one you want and press Enter.
  5. Answer Y to Correct Set?.
  6. The dataset is imported.
  7. Continue importing other datasets in the same way. You don't have to import datasets in chronological order because DigiPro uses dates, not dataset numbers. Later, if you are concerned, you can use the Renumber Datasets command to tidy up.

Run DigiPro (Man at Office)

  1. Start DigiPro.
  2. The file open dialog appears.
  3. Navigate to your project database, select it, and click on Open.
  4. A list of installations appears.
  5. Choose the one you want and click new.
  6. Choose the graph type you want and click OK. The graph appears.

Question: Why do you have to export a data set from DMM to email it? Why are there so many files associated with a DMM database? If I want to email the whole database what files are important?

Answer: There are two reasons for exporting datasets from the database for emailing: 1. The file size can be kept small. Over time the database becomes quite large and is simply not suitable for emailing. 2. The person who receives the datasets sometimes edits them, deletes bad ones, manipulates them, applies correction values, etc. If the database is overwritten each time a new dataset is added, all of these edits would be lost. The the important files are identified by their extensions: .hdr .rh .dat .dbt .sns (optional)

How can I combine two .HDR files? My company recently purchased a Digitilt DataMate with internal memory. Our previous system required the use of a separate computer in order to store the data. Now I have two *.HDR files for the same installation and cannot plot all my data.

Answer: DMM for Windows makes this easier. With the DOS DMM, you have to export datasets from one of the databases and import them into the other. The Site and Installation names must match in order for this to work. Here is the recommended work flow for using DMM and the DataMate:

  1. Create a project database. You can put all of your inclinometer readings into a single database or you can create separate databases for each project or site.
  2. Enter installation information into the database. You do this only once, unless you install additional inclinometers.
  3. Transfer installation information to the DataMate. This ensures that site and installation names in the DataMate match those in the database.
  4. Do your inclinometer surveys using the DataMate.
  5. To retrieve surveys from the DataMate, start DMM and open the project database. DMM stores the readings under the proper site and installation names.
  6. Plot the data with DigiPro for Windows. If you followed steps 1 thru 4, then you simply need to open the project database, establish communications with the datamate and retrieve the data.