SNDAN  Utiltity Programs

Many of the programs are included largely for the sake of completion; they are not essential components of the SNDAN suite, but may be of use to more expert users.
 
 
 

 Dump programs

"Dump" is the standard  term for writing all data to a file for examination; typically for diagnostic purposes.

• andump

Prints the contents of an .an format file to the console, or. via output redirection, to a file. This can be useful if you want to see the full numeric contents of each analysis frame. Since analysis files are typically very large, the redirection option is much recommended. The console output is usually used with pipes, to send the data to another program. This system is very rarely used in MSDOS, though it is available. For example, the output can be piped to the MSDOS command more (see Using the Windows Console), which pauses at each screenful, thus:

andump piano.mq | more
 

Command line:
 

andump  anfile > textfile
When launched with an analysis file, the program asks how many harmonics to read in, then whether you want to dump amplitude or frequency data. Output comprises one line per analysis frame, one column per harmonic. Header information is included, and each line is formatted with a frame count.
 
• andump1

Functionally equivalent to andump, with the same prompts,this prints the raw data without any explanatory text. The first field in each line gives the time for that frame in seconds. This data can be useful for reading by other  programs which can process simple columns of numeric data.

Command line:
 

andump1  anfile > textfile
• andump2

This variant prints amplitude data for each harmonic in turn, as a simple list of values. The data is thus effectively  a single 'breakpoint' list, based on an implicit fixed time increment given on the command line.

Command line:
 

andump2  anfile dt tmax nhars > textfile
Parameters:
• dt         :       time increment for each harmonic value (seconds).
To be useful, this needs to be reasonably small, say 0.025, for 25 millisecond steps.
• tmax     :       end time for data output (seconds)
For example, to print just the attack section of a file.
• nhars    :       Number of harmonics to print
Data for each harmonic is printed in turn. An empty line separates each harmonic from the next.
• mqdump

This outputs a complete listing of each track frame, within the range specified. The start and end of each track ('birth' and 'death' respectively) is identified. Note that all command line parametes are optional, including the name of the input file. this can be disconcering when used with a pipe (see andump, above, for an example), as the prompt for an input file is also piped, so is not written to the screen.

Command line:
 

mqdump [file.mq] [frame_max] > textfile
Parameters:
 
• file.mq      :  input mq file
• frame_max    :      last frame to print

 

 
 
 

Miscellaneous programs

• differror

This reads two analysis files and perform operations on them  together.  It assumes that the two files have the same data sizes,  i.e., their nhar and npts are the same. The program computes the errors  between the corresponding amplitude and frequency arrays of the two  files and prints the results.

Command line:

differror infile1 infile2
 

• tocompact

Converts .an files in 'simple' format to 'compact' format. See pvan for information of the different storage formats.
Several files can be processed in a single run - the program prompts for the number of files, and for their names. Optionally, the number of harmonics for each file to retaiin can be specified. The program prompts the user for all information.

Command line:

tocompact [-nh]

If the -nh flag is used, enter the filename and the number of harmonics to retain, when prompted. Otherwise, just the filename is required.
 

• maketone

A program to generate a simple pulse-wave soundfile, for testing purposes. A number of harmonics can be specified, with randomized or coherent phases. The program prompts for all parameters.
 
• sextract

Extract multiple segments from a single soundfile. This is really quite useful! Parameters control how a distinct segment is recognized, according to amplitude threshold, and the time above it. This would work especially well with percussive samples. Output filenames are generated automatically. Any existing files with these names will be over-written.

Command line:

sextract [-t<at>] [-d<md>] [-r<td>] <infile>.{snd,wav}
Parameters:
•  at    :    threshold amplitude  (range 0 to 32767, default = 100)
•  md  :    minimum duration     (default: .5 sec)
•  td   :     transition duration     (default: .1 sec)


Output files z<n>.snd or z<n>.wav are automatically generated, where <n> = 1, 2, ...
 

• showhdr

Displays the header information within an analysis file (.an format or .mq format). the information is more comprehensive than that shown by other SNDAN programs

Command line:

showhdr infile
• sigplot

This plots monaural or stereo sample file data in either waveform or envelope mode. The user has control over the time interval of data  displayed and the range of the vertical scale. Only one channel is  shown at a time. The program reads files in .snd, .wav, .sh and .fp formats. requires an eps viewer, such as GSVIEW (see Installing SNDAN). Windows users will most probably prefer to ue a more modern GUI-based soundfile viewer. However, this has the advantage of reading raw binary data files, which can be useful for programmers. The eps graphics output is also vey printer-friendly.

 Command line:

sigplot [-y<SIGMAX>] [-v<YMAX>] [-s<SR>] [-c<NCHANS>] [-e] [-r] [-m<MAXPTS>] -x]  <samp_file>

SIGMAX             :     the max. abs y value of the data values to be plotted  (default = 20000)
YMAX                 :     same as <SIGMAX> except that unipolar (envelope) plot is invoked
 SR                       :     the sample rate in samples/sec. with default of 22050
 NCHANS           :     the number of channels (default = 1)
  -e                       :     puts sp into envelope mode,
  -r                        :     puts sp into research mode
  -m<MAXPTS>  :     gives the max. no. pts. plotted (1024 default)
 -x                        :      reverses the byte order of samples in '.sh' or '.fp' files
 samp_file             :     input sound/data file

 Initially, the user is prompted for a pair of time values (float values in seconds separated by a comma) over which the signal is to be plotted. After each graph is completed the following commands are operational:

•  CR alone causes the next graph to continue from the first.

 -CR causes the previous graph frame to appear
•  't' followed by CR results in a request for new pair of times
•  'v' CR allows the user to specify a new vertical range.
•  'm' CR sets new value of max pts plotted
•   'c' CR toggles the channel No. for stereo sample files
•  'e' CR toggles envelope/signal mode.
•   's' CR computes an FFT of current window size for given time, channel
•  'sr' CR computes an FFT ratio of current window size for given time
•   'h' CR toggles the help menu (on/off)   (printed in the eps file)
•  'q' CR erases plot and quits program.