Programs compiled using the DB library (see db(3) ) require calibration data in order to convert between sample values (expressed in analog-to-digital converter units, or adus) and physical units. Calibration files specify the physical characteristics of calibration pulses that may be present in various types of signals, and specify customary scales for plotting these signals. calibrate(1) reads the signal file(s) for a record, measures the size of the calibration pulses it finds in adus, and uses specifications from a calibration file to determine adu-to-physical unit conversion parameters, the `gain' and `baseline' fields that it writes back into the header file for the record. Other programs, such as pschart(1) , make use of the `gain' and `baseline' fields from the header file to determine how to convert adus into physical units, and use customary scale specifications from a calibration file to determine how to convert physical units into units of length on a printed page or on-screen. Most users will find that a single calibration file, perhaps a system-wide default, can be used with all of their DB records.
Calibration
files are line-oriented text files. Lines are separated by a carriage-return/line-feed
pair. Each type of signal to be calibrated is described by a one-line entry.
The format of each entry is:
DESC<tab>LOW HIGH TYPE SCALE UNITS
where DESC
is a string, possibly containing embedded spaces but not tabs, taken from
the signal description field of the header file entry for signals of the
desired type; LOW and HIGH are the physical measurements that correspond
to the low- and high-amplitude phases of the calibration pulse; TYPE specifies
the shape of the calibration pulse (`sine', `square', or `undefined'); SCALE
specifies the customary scale in physical units per centimeter; and UNITS
is a string (without embedded whitespace) that specifies the physical
units of the signal (e.g., `mV', `mmHg', `degrees_Celsius'). If LOW is `-', the signal
is AC-coupled, and HIGH is taken as the peak-to-peak amplitude of the calibration
pulse. LOW must be defined (i.e., must not be `-') for DC-coupled signals. If
HIGH is `-', the size of the calibration pulse is undefined.
Lines that begin with `#', empty lines, and improperly formatted lines are treated as comments and ignored.
The DB library function getcal, used by programs such as calibrate(1) , dbplot(1) , and psfd(1) to obtain calibration data from a calibration file, returns the first entry that matches a signal's description and units. A calibration file entry is considered to match a signal if the DESC field is either an exact match or a prefix of the signal description as given in the header file, and if the UNITS field in the calibration file is an exact match of the units field in the header file. By making use of these two rules, it is possible to write a calibration file that contains entries for several specific cases followed by a `catch-all' case for which the DESC field contains only the common prefix.
Note that SCALE specifications are advisory, not mandatory. The intended use of SCALE is to specify the customary size for signals, and the relative sizes of signals of varying types. When determining a SCALE for a signal type for which there is no customary scale, a good rule of thumb is that the typical short-term range of variation of the plotted signal should be on the order of one centimeter; keep in mind that it may be useful to make measurements on plots, however, and choose a scale that makes such measurements easy to perform. Programs that draw signals at non-standard scales should generally adjust the scales for all signals by the same factor, unless the user specifies otherwise.
An entry
of the form:
ECG lead I - 1 sine 1 mV
matches `ECG lead II' as well as `ECG
lead I', because of the prefix rule (see above). If `ECG lead I' and `ECG
lead II' were to require different calibrations for some reason, an entry
of the form:
ECG lead II - 2 sine 1 mV
should be inserted before the entry
for `ECG lead I'.