Data Converter

When to Use the Data Converter Object

Use the Data Converter (DataConv) object when you want to

• import or export files to HalWin software

• convert files to different formats for use with various applications
• change the variable names for data
• change the storage unit for a variable
• combine multiple data files into one file
• limit the amount of data to export

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Table of Contents

When to Use the Data Converter Object ................................. 1

Getting Started ......................................................................... 3
Launching a Subpackage from the Start Menu ................... 3
Launching a Subpackage from the Desktop ....................... 4
Selecting a Job from the <Subpackage> Job Screen .......... 5
Inserting the Data Converter Object into a Subpackage ..... 5
Converting Files to Different File Formats ............................... 7
Modifying Variable Names and/or Units .................................. 9
Combining Files ....................................................................... 11
Limiting the Amount of Data to Export ..................................... 13
File Formats ............................................................................. 16
ASCII Files ( .asc, .dat, .das, and .csv) ............................... 16
MS Excel Data Listing (.csv ) Files ................................ 16
DAS Job Data (01.das) Files ......................................... 16
Binary Files (.dbs and .rtd) .................................................. 17
Fracpro Job Data (.dbs) Files ........................................ 17
New Real-Time Data (.rtd) Files .................................... 17
Menus and Toolbars ................................................................ 18

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Getting Started
The Data Converter object can be used with any HalWin software subpackage. To
insert and use the Data Converter object, you must first launch one of the HalWin
software subpackages.

Launching a Subpackage from the Start Menu

1. Go to the Start menu (lower left corner of your screen) and click Start.
2. Choose Programs > HalWin > (Subpackage Name). The <Subpackage> Job
screen will appear, allowing you to make your job selections.

Figure 1—Start menu showing selections for launching a subpackage

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Launching a Subpackage from the Desktop

1. Locate the subpackage icon on your desktop.

Figure 2—Desktop icons

2. Double-click on the icon. The <Subpackage> Job screen will appear, allowing
you to make your job selections.

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Selecting a Job from the <Subpackage> Job Screen

1. From the <Subpackage> Job screen, select your job type by clicking in the circle
next to it.

Figure 3—<Subpackage> Job screen

2. Click OK.

Inserting the Data Converter Object into a Subpackage

1. If the Data Converter object is not already inserted into the job, choose
Insert > New Halliburton Object from the <Subpackage> base screen.

Figure 4—Insert dropdown menu

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2. At the Insert New Halliburton Object screen, choose DataConv.

Figure 5—Insert New Halliburton Object screen

3. Click OK. The Data Converter object is now inserted into your job and its icon
will appear on the base screen of the subpackage.

Figure 6—Data Converter object icon as it appears on the subpackage base screen

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4. Click on the icon to open the Data Converter object. The screen will appear as
in Figure 7.

Figure 7—Data Converter screen

Converting Files to Different File Formats

You may need to convert data files into different formats for use in various applica-
tions. To convert files from an ASCII text format to a binary format (or vice versa)
you must (1) create a New Real-Time Data (.rtd) file, and (2) export the .rtd file as a
different format. Use the following steps to convert data files:

1. Create an .rtd file.

Note—You must create an .rtd file before converting a file to any other format.

a. From the Import dropdown menu, choose Convert to RTD or click the
Convert to RTD File button. The Import Data screen will appear.

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Figure 8—Import Data screen

b. From the Import Data screen, browse the directories to locate the data file
that you want to convert to an .rtd file. Click on the data file.
c. In the Export Data Types box, select New Real Time Data (.rtd). The Data
Converter object will convert the file into an .rtd file, and will place it in the
working directory you defined when you opened HalWin.
2. Export the .rtd file into the required file type.
a. From the Import dropdown menu at the top of the page, choose Convert to
RTD. The Import Data screen (Figure 8) will appear.
b. Browse the directories for the .rtd file that you want to convert, and click on
the file.
c. In the Export Data Types box, select the appropriate file format. The Data
Converter object will convert the .rtd file to the format you chose.

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Modifying Variable Names and/or Units

The Data Converter object allows you to modify variable names and/or their units.
You can customize data files for various applications by changing a variable name or
by changing display units with or without a multiplier.

To modify variable names and/or units, perform the following steps:

1. Open the Import dropdown menu at the top of the screen.

2. Choose Modify Variable Names/Units. The Modify Names and Units of Vari-
ables screen will appear.

Figure 9—Modify Names and Units of Variables screen

• To change the variable name, left-click on the variable name and type the
new name.
• To change the display units with a multiplier, left-click on the unit name.
The Change Display Units screen will appear. Select the unit you want to be
displayed from the units list. The program will use a multiplier to convert the
units.

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Figure 10—Change Display Units screen

• To change the display units or the unit category without a multiplier,

click the Set Units button from the Modify Names and Units of Variables
screen.

Figure 11—Modify Names and Units of Variables screen

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The Unit Change Instructions screen will appear.

Figure 12—Unit Change Instructions screen

Select Set storage units. The Change Storage Units in File screen will
appear.

Figure 13—Change Storage Units in File screen

For example, to categorize a channel as a pressure channel, select the cate-

gory Pressure and the appropriate pressure unit from the category list. The
selections will be saved as the new category and unit for that file, and no
multiplier will be associated with the units.
To change a temperature channel display unit from °C to °F, choose °F from
the units list.

Combining Files
To combine multiple files into one common file, use the Concatenate option. This
option is most often used to combine ASCII and .das files that are created by the
ACQUIRE system. In ACQUIRE and other data-acquisition programs, files are
limited to 720 KB or 1.44 MB. To use the data files in HalWin software, they must
be combined (“concatenated”) into one large file. The Concatenate function combines
ASCII files end-to-end and deletes the header lines so that they will not appear in the
middle of the data. To combine files, follow this procedure:

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1. From the Import pulldown menu at the top of the page, select Concatenate
ASCII Job Data Files. The Concatenate ASCII Job Data Files screen will
appear.

Figure 14—Concatenate ASCII Job Data Files screen

2. Use one of the following procedures to select the file names you want to
combine:
• In the Input Files box, type the full path and file name
(c:\HalWin_Data\StimWin\990602\*.asc).
• Use the Browse button to select the required files.
• If the names are sequential (data1.asc, data2.asc, etc.), type the name with a
wildcard character (*) for the number (data*.asc).
3. In the Output File box, type the path with the name of the data file
(c:\HalWin_Data \StimWin\990602\acqcat.txt) or use the Browse button to
select the required file or directory name.

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Limiting the Amount of Data to Export

To limit the amount of data to export, use the following procedure:

1. From the main Data Converter screen, click Select RTD Variables for
Exporting of Data. The Select RTD Variables for Exporting of Data screen will
appear.

Figure 15—Data Converter job screen

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Figure 16—Select RTD Variables for Exporting of Data screen

2. Select the variables that you want to export to a .csv, .dbs, .das, or .rtd file. For
more information about file types, see Page 16.
3. Select the channel or channels from the .rtd file or files.
4. Select the file type you want to export to and click Export. The Data Export
Information screen will appear.

Figure 17—Data Export Information screen

5. Click Reset Times to make sure that all the data are exported.

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Note—To limit the file, change the start time and end time or date.

Note—If you are exporting the file as a .csv file format, the Events and Stages frame
will be active. The default setting will place the event and stage information at the end
of the .csv file.

Note—You can also change the amount of data to export by changing Time Incre-
ment, sec to a number greater than 1. For example, if you specify 5 seconds, every
fifth second of data will be written to a .csv file or another file format that you have
selected.

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File Formats

ASCII Files ( .asc, .dat, .das, and .csv)

ASCII files can be viewed or edited in Notepad, Wordpad, Microsoft® Excel, or
Microsoft® Word programs. An example of an ASCII file follows:

MS Excel Data Listing (.csv ) Files

A .csv file is an ASCII file that can be opened directly in the Microsoft® Excel
program. In a .csv file, each data channel is separated by commas. An example of a
.csv file data display follows:

Time, Tubing Pressure, Annulus Pressure, Slurry Rate

(hh:mm:ss), (psi), (psi), (bpm)
00:00:01,1000,750,35

DAS Job Data (01.das) Files

A 01.das file is an ASCII file that is used in Halliburton’s MiniFrac program. The
new version of the MiniFrac program (PDAT) uses the .rtd file format. An example
of a .das file display follows:

~M
HTIME___.DT14
ZSTAGENO.NUM_
PTUBING_.PSI_
PANNULUS.PSI_
RSLURRY_.BPM_
VXSLURRY.GAL_
~F
%14.0f %f %f %f %f %f
~A
19930127100537 1.000000 2079.000000 21.000000 0.030000 0.000000
19930127100538 1.000000 2079.000000 21.000000 0.030000 0.000000

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Binary Files (.dbs and .rtd)

Binary files are generally viewed in their graphical form and not as raw data. These
files can be viewed only through a specific program. For example, a Fracpro .dbs file
must be viewed through the Fracpro program. A binary file is more compact than an
ASCII file.

Fracpro Job Data (.dbs) Files

This binary file type can be viewed only with the Fracpro program.

New Real-Time Data (.rtd) Files

This binary file type is the preferred file format for all the HalWin program objects.
The Data Converter program uses .rtd files as an intermediate step before producing
.csv, .das, or .dbs files.

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Menus and Toolbars

This section explains the menu bar and toolbar functions (Figure 18).

Figure 18—Data Converter object menu and toolbar

Click on a menu item to open its dropdown menu. Use the toobar icons for frequent
tasks. The icons duplicate some menu dropdowns. Menu and toolbar functions are
shown in Table 1.
Table 1—Data Converter Object Menu and Toolbar Functions
Toolbar
Menu Command Function
Icon
File Menu

New Begin a new job.

Open Open a saved file.

Close Close the file.

Save As Save a copy of the file.

View Menu
Toolbar Show or hide the toolbar.
Status bar Show the status bar at the bottom of the
screen.
Import Menu

Convert to RTD Convert data to an .rtd file.

Modify Variable Change variable names and units.

Names/Units

Concatenate Combine multiple files into one data file.

Export Menu

Select RTD Variables List RTD variables.

Help Menu
Contents Display help.
Display program information, version num-
About
ber, and copyright.

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