xform - sampling frequency, amplitude, and format conversion for WFDB
records
xform -i input-record [ options ... ]
xform copies
the signal files (and, optionally, annotation files) of the specified input-record.
By default, all signals are copied in their entirety; using appropriate
options, xform can be used to copy only a portion of the record, or only
a subset of the signals, or both. Options are:
- -a annotator
- Copy the specified
annotator as well as the signal files. Two or more annotator arguments,
separated by spaces, can follow -a. An annotator supplied via the standard
input may be specified using `-', but only immediately after -a; in this case
only, annotations are copied to the standard output.
- -c
- Clip the output (set
any sample values that would fall outside of the range supported by the
selected format to the maximum or minimum supported values). By default,
the output is not clipped; rather, the values are wrapped around modulo
the supported range (i.e., the excess high-order bits are simply discarded).
Use of wrap-around can result in bizarre artifacts, but has the advantage
that the affected portions of the output signals can (usually) be interpreted
properly. Clipping mode is appropriate for testing algorithms or devices
that must operate using a more restricted amplitude range than was used
when digitizing the original record.
- -f time
- Begin at the specified time
in the input record (default: the beginning of the record).
- -h
- Print a usage
summary.
- -H
- Read the signals in high-resolution mode (default: standard mode).
These modes are identical for ordinary records. For multifrequency records,
the standard decimation of oversampled signals to the frame rate is suppressed
in high-resolution mode (rather, all other signals are resampled at the
highest sampling frequency).
- -M
- Read the signals in multifrequency mode.
Each signal (in a multifrequency record) is copied to the output record
without changing its sampling frequency. In an ordinary record, this option
has no effect other than to force the input and output sampling frequencies
to be equal.
- -n new-record
- Create a new-record for the output signal files.
- -N new-record
- As above, but copy the signal descriptions from the header
file for the record specified using the -o option (see below) rather than
from the input record.
- -o output-record
- The header file for output-record (which
must exist before running xform) determines the names, sampling frequency,
formats (see signal(5)
), gains, and ADC zero levels of the output signals.
If the -o option is absent, xform prompts the user for the output specifications.
- -s signal-list
- Write only the signals named in the signal-list (one or more
input signal numbers, separated by spaces; default: write all signals).
This option may be used to re-order or duplicate signals.
- -t time
- Process
until the specified time in the input record (default: continue to the
end of the record).
- -u
- Adjust annotation times as needed so that they are
unique. If the output sampling frequency is less than that of the input,
the times of closely-spaced annotations may coincide in the output, which
may cause problems for some older WFDB applications. The -u option avoids
this.
If a new-record is specified, a new header file is created after the
signal file transformation is complete. The new header file, if created,
contains the correct sample counts and checksums for the new signal files.
Any output annotation files that are created as a result of using -a are
associated with new-record if it has been specified, or with output-record
otherwise. To process only a segment of the input-record, specify the starting
and ending times using the -f and -t options.
Sampling frequency changes are
performed by linear interpolation; any combination of input and output
sampling frequencies is permissible. This interpolation method has the
advantage of being reasonably fast, an important consideration since it
is often necessary to operate on a million or more samples. Resampling
noise is not a significant problem for the typical applications of xform
(changing the sampling frequency by factors of five or less). Aliasing
can be a problem, however, when the input sampling frequency is greater
than the output sampling frequency. In such cases, if the input signals
contain frequency components at or above half of the output sampling frequency,
the input signals should be low-pass filtered (using, for example fir(1)
)
to remove these components before processing them with xform. Conversely,
if the output sampling frequency is substantially greater than the input
sampling frequency, resampling noise introduced at frequencies in excess
of half of the input sampling frequency can be removed by low-pass filtering
the output signals.
Normally, the ADC resolution fields in the header files
are ignored, and scaling is determined by the ratios of the gain fields.
An undefined (0) gain is considered equivalent to a gain of 200 ADC units
per physical unit. An exception to this rule occurs if both input and output
gains are undefined; in this case, scaling is determined by the difference
in the ADC resolution fields, if any.
Also note that xform writes over any
existing data files named in the header file for output-record; thus output-record
should not be the name of an ordinary database record. Normally, the database
signal files are read-only, and attempts to overwrite them are futile. For
many applications the "piped records" 8 and 16 and the "local records"
8l and 16l will be found useful as output records.
If signal selection,
scaling, and sampling frequency conversion are not needed, snip(1)
is recommended
as a faster alternative to xform.
It may be necessary to set
and export the shell variable WFDB (see setwfdb(1)
).
As xform
runs, it prints a `.' on the standard error output for each minute processed.
If any of the output samples fall outside the range of values that can
be properly represented using the specified output format, xform issues
warnings but continues to process the record.
fir(1)
, setwfdb(1)
,
snip(1)
, signal(5)
George B. Moody (george@mit.edu)
http://www.physionet.org/physiotools/wfdb/app/xform.c
Table of Contents
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