Main Content

Share Analysis

Copy Displays

You can share the plots that you have produced using the Signal Analyzer app by copying one or more displays to the clipboard as images and pasting them into another application.

To copy displays to the clipboard, on the Display tab, click Copy All Displays ▼. You can then copy either the selected display or the complete display layout.

To copy a single display to the clipboard, you can also right-click the display and select Copy Display.

Export Signals

You can export any signals in the Signal Analyzer Signal table to the MATLAB® workspace or to a MAT-file.

To export signals:

  1. Select one or more signals from the Signal table.

  2. On the Analyzer tab, click Export.

  3. Choose whether you want to export the selected signals to the MATLAB workspace or save them to a MAT-file. If you choose to save the signals, browse to where you want to save the file, name the file, and click Save.

You can also select the signals, right-click, and select Export.

Signals are exported differently, depending on their type:

  • Signals with no time information are exported or saved as numeric vectors.

  • Signals stored as timetables are exported or saved as timetables.

  • Signals that have time information but are not stored as timetables are exported or saved as numeric vectors. If you want to preserve the time information, you can save the signals as timetables. On the Analyzer tab, click Preferences and check Always use timetables when signals have time information.

  • The export behavior for multichannel signals depends on the signals and channels that you select and on the preferences you have set.

    • Whenever possible, the app exports signals of the same name and type (numeric or timetable) as the originals.

    • If you select a signal with several channels, the app exports it as a single matrix or timetable if the individual channels have the same length and time information.

    • If you select a signal with several channels that have different lengths or different time information, the app exports them as independent signals.

    • If you select a signal and one or more of its channels at the same time, the app exports a copy of the whole signal and independent variables corresponding to the selected channels.

    Example: Create three two-channel signals. Each channel of sgn has 100 samples. Each channel of sgt has 200 samples. The timetable tmb has two 20-sample channels sampled at 1 Hz.

    sgn = randn(100,2);
    sgt = randn(200,2);
    tmb = timetable(seconds(0:19)',randn(20,2));
    Drag the signals to the Signal table. Expand the tree view to see the individual channels. Select sgt and, on the Analyzer tab, click Time Values. Select Sample Rate and Start Time and specify a sample rate of 25 Hz. Select sgn, the first channel of sgt, and the second channel of the only variable of tmb.

    On the Analyzer tab, click Export to export the selected signals to a MAT-file. Use the default file name. Load the file into the MATLAB workspace.

    load New_Export
    whos
      Name              Size            Bytes  Class
    
      sgn             100x2              1600  double
      sgt_1           200x1              1600  double
      tmb_Var1_2       20x1              1368  timetable
    The app exported sgt_1 as a vector, even though it has time information. On the Analyzer tab, click Preferences and check Always use timetables when signals have time information. Export the signals again. sgt_1 becomes a timetable.

    Example: Create a timetable with four variables. "Temperature" has two channels, "WindSpeed" has one channel, "Electric" has three channels, and "Magnetic" has one channel.

    tmt = timetable(seconds(0:99)', ...
        randn(100,2),randn(100,1),randn(100,3),randn(100,1));
    tmt.Properties.VariableNames = ...
        ["Temperature" "WindSpeed" "Electric" "Magnetic"];
    Drag the timetable to the Signal table. Expand the tree view to see the individual channels. Select tmt, tmt.Temperature, the second channel of tmt.Electric, and tmt.Magnetic.

    On the Analyzer tab, click Export to export the selected signals to a MAT-file. Use the default file name. Load the file into the MATLAB workspace.

    load New_Export
    whos
      Name                   Size            Bytes  Class
    
      tmt                  100x4              8180  timetable
      tmt_Electric_2       100x1              2656  timetable
      tmt_Magnetic         100x1              2652  timetable
      tmt_Temperature      100x1              3458  timetable
    The app exported tmt as a four-variable timetable, tmt_Temperature as a timetable with a two-channel variable, and the two single-variable, single-channel timetables tmt_Electric_2 and tmt_Magnetic.

Generate MATLAB Scripts and Functions

You can generate MATLAB scripts to extract signal regions of interest or automate the computation of power spectrum, persistence spectrum, spectrogram, or scalogram estimates obtained with the Signal Analyzer app.

To generate a MATLAB script, on the Display tab, click Generate Script. The generated script opens in the Editor.

  • Select ROI Script Between Time Limits to generate a MATLAB script that extracts a region of interest defined by the time limits of the selected display. Depending on the preferences, the regions of interest are saved as numeric vectors or as a timetable.

  • Select ROI Script Between Time Cursors to generate a MATLAB script that extracts a region of interest defined by the locations of the time-domain cursors in the selected display. Depending on the preferences, the regions of interest are saved as numeric vectors or as a timetable.

  • Select Spectrum Script to generate a MATLAB script that computes the power spectrum appearing in the spectrum view of the selected display, including all current settings.

  • Select Persistence Spectrum Script to generate a MATLAB script that computes the persistence spectrum appearing in the spectrum view of the selected display, including all current settings.

  • Select Spectrogram Script to generate a MATLAB script that computes the spectrogram appearing in the spectrogram view of the selected display, including all current settings.

  • Select Scalogram Script to generate a MATLAB script that computes the scalogram appearing in the scalogram view of the selected display, including all current settings. You need a Wavelet Toolbox™ license to use the scalogram view.

You can generate MATLAB functions to automate signal preprocessing steps performed with the Signal Analyzer app.

To generate a MATLAB preprocessing function, on the Analyzer tab, click Generate Function. The generated function opens in the Editor.

Save and Load Signal Analyzer Sessions

If you want to share session snapshots or archive them to view later, save the Signal Analyzer session to a MAT-file or MLDATX-file. Using MLDATX-files results in faster save and load times.

To save a session to a MAT-file or MLDATX-file:

  1. On the Analyzer tab, click Save ▼ and select Save.

  2. Browse to where you want to save the file, name the file, choose the format, and click Save.

If you want to update the file, click Save. If you want to save the session to a different file, click Save ▼ and select Save as.

To load a saved session:

  1. On the Analyzer tab, click Open.

  2. Browse to the MAT-file or MLDATX-file saved from a previous session, select it, and click Open. The signal data and properties appear as they were when the file was last saved.

To start a new session, on the Analyzer tab, click New.

Previous Step

Measure Signals

See Also

Related Examples

More About