INP files

[treefrog]

I have just started using MARK so my question deals with data uploading into the program. I have converted abundance data to presence/absence data in the format indicated by the online book. I used notepad and saved as .INP. However, when I open MARK and start a new project, my file is not found. Only the .inp example files from MARK setup are located. I tried uploading a .txt file but I get the error message saying it isn't compatabile for the program. I windows xp, could this be the cause of the problem? Otherwise, why might .INP files not be located?

[gwhite]

Tiffany:
The problem is caused by a Windows setting you have. There are 2 ways you can fix this. First, open up the files you saved with Notepad, and re-save them with the name in quotes, e.g., "example.inp". The quotes keep Windows from adding the .txt extension that then means MARK does not find the .inp file.
The second way to fix this (and a more permanent solution) is to reset the Windows option to not display the extensions of file types that Windows thinks it knows about. In the Windows Explorer, follow the menu path Tools | Folder Options | View and uncheck the option "Hide extension for known file types". Then, you will be able to see the .txt extension that Windows added, and rename the file to get rid of this extension.

Sometimes Windows tries to be helpful and makes a complete mess of it.

Gary

[cooch]

Tiffany:
The problem is caused by a Windows setting you have. There are 2 ways you can fix this. First, open up the files you saved with Notepad, and re-save them with the name in quotes, e.g., "example.inp". The quotes keep Windows from adding the .txt extension that then means MARK does not find the .inp file.
The second way to fix this (and a more permanent solution) is to reset the Windows option to not display the extensions of file types that Windows thinks it knows about. In the Windows Explorer, follow the menu path Tools | Folder Options | View and uncheck the option "Hide extension for known file types". Then, you will be able to see the .txt extension that Windows added, and rename the file to get rid of this extension.

Sometimes Windows tries to be helpful and makes a complete mess of it.

Gary

And, by extension (no pun intended), the other solution would be to stop using brain-dead applications like Notepad. There are *lots* of free (as in beer) replacements for Windows Notepad, which are well worth considering. For example, do a search on Notepad++, or TED Notepad, or EditPad Lite, or NoteTab Lite. Any of these is a *much* better simple ASCII editor than Notepad.

[treefrog]

Thank you for your help, however it doesn't seem to have worked. I've unchecked the box for file types and resaved the file as INP. Once again the txt portion is still on the file. On the drop down menu when saving an item, I can only choose a .txt file, should I have the option to save an .INP file? Also, should the encoding be ANSI, unicode or UTF?

[cooch]

Thank you for your help, however it doesn't seem to have worked. I've unchecked the box for file types and resaved the file as INP. Once again the txt portion is still on the file. On the drop down menu when saving an item, I can only choose a .txt file, should I have the option to save an .INP file? Also, should the encoding be ANSI, unicode or UTF?

As per my post - stop using Notepad (its useless...), and use something that gives you more control. Simple ANSI text is all you need.

[jlaake]

If you use notepad, use quotes around the filename in the filename box and it won't add the .txt extension. For example,

Filename: "test.inp"

Also, in Windows, if you select Tools/Folder Options/View and uncheck the box

Hide extensions for known file types

then it will show the full filename with the extension. Then you can use rename to remove or change the extension.

This has been discussed before in the list (see 10/4/2007 thread) and other solutions were given. Seearch the list before posting.