Reading in Your Date/Time Data
Before you can generate a date/time axis on a plot, your data must be read in and converted to date/time data. There are three methods for generating variables containing date/time data:
You can read data directly into date/time variables using the DC_READ functions in conjunction with the DT_Template keyword. See "Importing Date/Time Data" in Chapter 9: Working with Data Files from the PV‑WAVE Programmer’s Guide.Refer to "Transferring Date/Time Data" in Chapter 9: Working with Data Files from the PV‑WAVE Programmer’s Guide; this section contains an example showing date/time data being transferred using DC_READ_FIXED. You can also refer to the descriptions for the DC_READ_FIXED and DC_READ_FREE procedures in the PV‑WAVE Reference for other examples.You can read date and time data as atomic data types and then use conversion procedures to create date/time variables. These conversion routines are discussed in the next section.Refer to "Transferring Date/Time Data" in Chapter 9: Working with Data Files from the PV‑WAVE Programmer’s Guide; this section contains an example showing date/time data being transferred using the READF function. You can also refer to the descriptions of the READF and READU functions in the PV‑WAVE Reference for more examples.You can use the DTGEN function to generate date/time data for an input file that does not contain date/time information such as data generated by a computer time stamp. See "Generating Date/Time Data".
