Using EV files

Creating EV files
Opening EV files
Saving EV files
- Saving an EV file as a template
- Failure to save an EV file
Working with EV files from an earlier version of Echoview
See also

Before any work can be done with the data stored in data files, you must open an EV file and add data files to it.

An EV file can contain a number of different groups of data files, each group stored in a fileset. One EV file can contain one or more filesets.

The Filesets window is used to manage filesets, related variables, and data files. It contains as many pages as there are filesets.

When the data in a data file are first accessed in Echoview, index files called EVI files are created. EVI files speed up access to data on subsequent reads.

Many parameters essential to data analysis are properties of the EV file. EV file properties affect all variables in the EV file—not just individual variables. For example, the bottom detection algorithm is an EV file property, and the same algorithm is used with all variables. Review all EV file properties and ensure that those relevant to your analysis are set appropriately. A parameter that is not an EV file property may instead be a variable property.

See also: Naming conventions

Creating EV files

To create an EV file:

On the File menu, click New...

- OR -

on the File menu, click New From Template....

If you have templates in the default or user-specified templates folder, Echoview displays the New EV file dialog box.

Otherwise, New... creates a default EV file. New From Template... opens the Select Template explorer window for you to choose an existing EV file as a template.

Note: See also Add data files while creating an EV file.

Opening EV files

To open an EV file:

On the File menu, click Open.
Select the required EV file.
Click Open.

EV files can also be opened by double-clicking on the EV file name in Windows Explorer.

Hint: If Echoview cannot find the data files referenced by an EV file, it displays a dialog box that allows you to cancel the open operation or specify a new location. If you know where the files are located, click Yes, select the folder containing the files, and click OK. If you do not know where the files are stored, you can search for them in Echoview. However, it may be easier to click Cancel, locate the files using Windows Explorer or another external application, then reopen the EV file and browse to the required folder.

Notes:

You can open an EV file with echogram, cruisetrack, scene or manager windows already opened. See EV File page for more information.
If an EV file is one of several EV files in a folder, click File > Open Next to close the current EV file and open the next EV file in the folder. EV files follow Echoview’s file ordering rules. The ordering selected in the Open File dialog box does not affect Open Next.

Saving EV files

To save an EV file and overwrite the previous version (if any):

On the File menu, click Save.

If the Save As dialog box is displayed, select a folder in which to save the file, enter a file name, and click Save.

When overwriting an EV file, a backup file is created. To save an EV file without overwriting the previous version:

On the File menu, click Save As.
Select a different folder and/or enter a different file name.
Click Save.

Saving an EV file as a template

Refer to creating a template.

Failure to save an EV file

Echoview cannot save changes to an EV file while another process is using it, for example, while another Echoview session is loading it as a template.

Simply wait for the process to complete before retrying, or save the EV file under a different name.

Working with EV files from an earlier version of Echoview

If you open an EV file saved in an earlier version of Echoview, you may need to modify it to ensure compatibility with the current version. See:

To check which version of Echoview was last used to save an EV file:

Open the EV file.
On the View menu, click EV File Properties.
Select the Notes page.
Check the version number in the EV File Saved by box.

Note: If you save an EV file using a new version of Echoview, you will no longer be able to open it in an older version of Echoview. However, a backup file is created.