Find the definitions of commonly used terms in DataSight.

BMP

Files with the file extension .bmp are known simply as a  bitmap. They are bitmap image files or have a device independent bitmap (DIB) file format and are a type of raster graphics image file format used to store bitmap digital images, independently of the display device (such as a graphics adapter), especially on Microsoft Windows and OS/2 operating systems.

Chart Axes

Axes are the scales that can be placed on a chart to orientate the data. In standard terms these axes have either an X, Y or Z component. In DataSight there are five principal axes; left, top, right, bottom and depth. Different data series can be related to different axes permitting different axis scales for these series on the same chart. Left and right axes refer to a Y-axis, top and bottom axes refer to an X-axis and the depth axis refers to the Z-axis.

Chart Canvas

The chart canvas is the visible area enclosed by the chart panel boundary. All chart axes and data are plotted on the chart canvas.

Chart Legend

The chart legend is the explanatory table or list of the symbols and/or colours for a given series appearing on the chart. The legend has four default positioning options; left, top, right and bottom but you may move the legend to place it anywhere on the chart panel including inside the chart rectangle. The Legend has many supporting properties and events to allow customisation and/or interactive display.

Chart Marks

Marks refer to the labels associated with each data point of a series on a chart. Marks may be displayed in several ways; as the data value, as a text description of the point or as a percentage related to the value of all points taken as a whole. Marks are normally displayed alongside, above or below the Series point. An alternative and complementary data related labelling scheme is the axis labels which label key scale points on the Axis.

Chart Panel

The chart panel is the backdrop to the chart.

Chart Rectangle

The chart rectangle is the area contained within the principle five chart axes (left, top, right, bottom and depth). The chart data series and grid are plotted inside the chart rectangle. Some chart series types do not require and do not install by default any axes. Setting the chart frame to visible enables the chart rectangle to be highlighted by the selected colour.

Chart Series

Chart series are the data display method type, e.g. Line Series, Bar Series, Pie, etc. You can mix different series types in a chart according to your requirement.

Chart Walls

The chart walls are boundaries that can be placed at the side, bottom and back of the chart rectangle  to accentuate the charted area. Chart walls are a visual component not containing any data scale related information. DataSight charts have four walls; left, right, bottom and back. Each wall may be coloured and changed dimensionally.

CSV

Files with a .csv file extension are comma-separated values files. A CSV file is one in which each value in the cells of a table row is delimited by and separated from the next value by a comma. The beginning of a row is indicated by a new line character.

Equidistant Data

Many modern measurement techniques provide continuous data with equidistant data points. Herein all data points have the same distance according to the time axis.

Non-equidistant Data

In some measurement techniques, data is in the form of a sequence of values that correspond to non-equidistant data points. Herein data points do not have the same distance according to the time axis.

Datasource

The datasource for a chart or report refers to DataSight database sourced data.

Datum

Datum (singular of  'data')  is a fixed point to which complete information about a variable is attributed.

Delimited

Delimited files use a special text character to separate each data value in a record. Typically the delimiter is either a tab or a comma, but any character may be used. The field delimiter denotes the beginning and ending of a data field e.g. ;123450; with a semi-colon (;) as the field delimiter identifies 123450 as the data value in that field.

Dependent Variable

A variable whose value is determined by the value of an independent variable. For example in a graph of temperature at different depths for a water body, temperature is the dependent variable. Any depth from the surface to the bottom can be chosen to see what the corresponding temperature at that depth is. By convention a dependent variable is plotted on the y axis but with DataSight you can choose the x axis if you wish.

DSI

Files with a .DSI file extension are comma-separated values files created by DSApp and are also referred to within this Help Manual as DSApp Import files. A DSI file is one in which each value in the cells of a table row is delimited by and separated from the next value by a comma. The beginning of a row is indicated by a new line character.

EMF

EMF is a file extension for Enhanced MetaFile, a spool file format used in printing by the Windows operating system. When a print job is sent to the printer, if it is already printing another file, the computer reads the new file and stores it, usually on the hard disk or in memory, for printing at a later time.

Fixed Width

A fixed-width file contains data in columns, where each column is a certain width, and all values in that column are the same width.

Footer

Footers are fields that follow the main file content and describe characteristics of the file.

GIF

Files with a .gif file extension are Bitmap (CompuServe) GIF, or Graphic Interchange Format files. GIF is often an animated raster graphics file and is the second most common image format used on the World Wide Web after JPEG. GIF uses the LZW compression algorithm and is owned by Unisys.

Header

Headers precede the main file content and describe the length of the content or other characteristics of the file.

HTML  (HyperText Markup Language)

Files with a .html file extension have been created for use within a web browsing interface.

Import Template

A file that contains specified DataSight parameters for importing data (including the mapping decisions).

Independent Variable

A variable whose value determines the value of other variables. It is called independent because within a certain valid range any independent value can be chosen to see what the dependent value is. For example in a graph of temperature at different depths for a water body, depth is the independent variable. Any depth from the surface to the bottom can be chosen to see what the corresponding temperature at that depth is.

By convention an independent variable is plotted on the x axis but with DataSight you can choose the the y axis if you wish. This can be be helpful in producing depth profiles for example.

JPG (or JPEG)

Files with a .jpg file extension are JPEG files, which is a commonly used standard method of compression for graphic images. The name JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group.

Level 1

An organizational level of data naming, which will be determined by the type of data you are working with. In the case of freshwater quality data, for example, an appropriate Level 1 may be Lakes, Rivers, Reservoirs etc.

Level 2

The first data grouping level (with Level 1 being the organizational Level). For example, in the case of freshwater quality data an appropriate Level 2 may be the name of a particular water body.

Level 3

The defined physical point at which data is collected. This forms the 2nd level in the hierarchy of data grouping underneath Level 2 and contains Level 6 data.

Level 6

A Level 6 is an occurrence of data sampling which occurs at a Level 3 site. Each sampling event (Level 6) is differentiated by its date.

MHT

Files with a .mht file extension have been created for use within a web browsing interface. mht is short for MIME HTML or MHTML (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension HTML) and is primarily associated with Microsoft Corporation.

Node

Node is a point of redistribution at which information intersect or branch.

Parse

To define something in an orderly way. In DataSight, parsing the data enables DataSight to identify the different features of the data, eg Title Row, Number of Title Rows etc.

PDF

Files with a .pdf (Portable Document Format) file extension are created for easy document exchange between users. Documents can be viewed in the free Adobe Reader program.

PNG

Files with the file extension .png are Portable Network Graphics. It's a lossless bitmap image format that is popular on the World Wide Web and elsewhere. PNG was largely developed to deal with some of the shortcomings of the GIF format and allows storage of images with greater colour depth and other important information.

RTF

Files with the file extension .rtf (Rich Text Format) are created for easy document interchange as most word processors are able to read and write rtf documents.

Text Qualifier

Denotes that a text value is enclosed within, eg the data field "Blue-greens" within a text qualifier of double quotes (") identifies the value Blue-greens as a  text value rather than say a numeric value.

TIF

Files with a .tif file extension are TIFF files (Tag Image File Format). TIFF is the format of choice for archiving important images and is the leading commercial and professional image standard. TIFF is the most universal and most widely supported format across all platforms, Mac, Windows, Unix.

TXT

Files with a .txt file extension are text files. They may contain text and numeric characters.

WMF

Windows Metafile (WMF) is an image file format originally designed for Microsoft Windows in the 1990s. Windows Metafiles are intended to be portable between applications and may contain both vector graphics and bitmap components.

XLS

Files with a .xls file extension have been created using Microsoft Excel. .xls is the default file format for the 2003 version of Excel and older, is a proprietary binary format, and supports macros.

XLSX

Files with a .xlsx file extension have been created using Microsoft Excel. .xlsx is for versions since 2007, is only readable by versions 2007 and later, is based on Office Open XML format and is not able to support macros.

XML

Files with a .xml (Extensible Markup Language) file extension can be used for sharing structured data, such as database information, between users - particularly via the Internet.