Tips and Tricks¶
Contents
Open a single audio file¶
To quickly analyse a single recording, use the Open audio file… function in the File menu. The recording will be analysed if needed and loaded into a new Recording Tab. This can also be done if you are working with a project and e.g. want to load a reference file. If a non standard file is opened, you may be prompted for conversion parameters (see BATLOGGER voice comments).
Tip
It is possible to associate audio files with BatExplorer in Windows. This way you can just double-click a file in Windows Explorer to open it in BatExplorer. To set File Associations in Windows 10/8/7, Open Control Panel > Control Panel Home > Default Programs > Set Associations. Select a file type in the list (e.g. .wav) and choose BatExplorer as default program.
Tip
DragNDrop an audio file from Windows Explorer to BatExplorer to open it directly, if no project is opened.
Command line interface (CLI)¶
BatExplorer can be started with command line parameters to accomplish following tasks:
Open single recording¶
Pass the path to a recording file (.wav, .flac, .raw) to open it with BatExplorer (see above).
BatExplorer_WPF.exe "c:\recordings\BL20220531\00110001.wav"
Open project¶
Pass the path to a project file (.bpr) to open it with BatExplorer.
BatExplorer_WPF.exe "c:\projects\project1\project1.bpr"
Export project data 1¶
Actions can be initiated on a project with optional parameters:
Usage:
BatExplorer_CLI.exe PATH [-h] [-e [EXPORTCSV_PATH]]
- -e, --export
Export projects recording data as comma separated values (CSV) to the filepath provided. If path is omitted, data is exported as “PROJECTNAME.csv” to the current folder.
Create new project 1¶
Pass the path to a folder that contains recordings to create a new project with. Subfolders will be imported too. This can be used for unattended project creation from batch scripts (see below).
The project creation can be controlled with optional parameters:
Usage:
BatExplorer_CLI.exe PATH [-h] [-n PROJECT_NAME] [-l LOCATION_PATH] [-d] [-t TEMPLATE_PATH] [-m]
- -n, --name
Name of the project. If omitted, name of folder is used.
- -l, --location
Path to a folder where project files are created. If omitted, recordings folder is used.
- -d, --dir
Create a subdirectory for the project files. If omitted, recordings folder is used.
- -t, --template
Path to a project template file or ‘default’ to use default template. If omitted, ‘last used’ template is used.
- -m, --move
Move recordings. If omitted, recordings are copied.
Note
When importing non-BATLOGGER recordings that need conversion, a template containing suitable settings must be used.
Examples¶
BatExplorer_CLI.exe "c:\recordings\BL20220531" --move
Creates a new project “c:\recordings\BL20220531\BL20220531.bpr” based on the “last used” template, imports (moves) the recording files from “c:\recordings\BL20220531” to the subfolder \Records, analyses the recordings, applies configured tasks and closes the program when done.
BatExplorer_CLI.exe "c:\recordings\BL20220531" -m -n WEAProject1 -t "c:\templates\WEA.bpt"
Creates a new project “c:\recordings\BL20220531\WEAProject1.bpr” based on the template “c:\templates\WEA.bpt”, imports (moves) the recording files from “c:\recordings\BL20220531” to the subfolder \Records, analyses the recordings, applies configured tasks and closes the program when done.
BatExplorer_CLI.exe c:\recordings\BL20220531 --location c:\myProjects\ --template default
Creates a new project “c:\myProjects\BL20220531.bpr” based on the “default” template, copies the recording files from “c:\recordings\BL20220531” to the projects \Records folder, analyses the recordings, applies configured tasks and closes the program when done.
BatExplorer_CLI.exe c:\projects\project1\project1.bpr -e c:\results\project1.csv
Exports the recordings data fields of the project “c:projectsproject1project1.bpr” as comma separated values (CSV) to “c:resultsproject1.csv” and closes the program when done.
Scripting¶
@echo off
set PATH2BE="C:\Program Files\Elekon AG\BatExplorer"
for /d %%i in ("C:\recordings\*") do (
%PATH2BE%\BatExplorer_CLI.exe "%%i" -m
)
pause
Create a batch file with the script above to create multiple projects unattended, e.g. one per night. Copy the daily recording folders from the sd card to “C:\recordings\” to get a file structure like this:
Then start ProcessFolder.bat to process each folder individually and create a project for each.
Assign locations from GPX track 1¶
It is possible to assign recording locations from a GPX track file. This can be helpful if recordings were made with devices without GPS or if certain recording have no location due to bad GPS signal. It is even possible to use this function to interpolate missing locations even if no GPX file was recorded at all. A merging of the data will be made according to the timestamps of the trackpoints and the recording timestamps.
To merge location with a GPX track
Import at least one GPX file into the project
If a GPX was recorded with the BATLOGGER, the GPX was probably imported already during project creation
To import other GPX files, click Add new GPX track in the map toolbar
Select the GPX track in the map toolbar
Select one or multiple recordings for merging from the recordings list
Use the filter “Location unknown” to see only recordings with no location (see Filter recordings)
Right-click the selection to open the context menu. Choose Assign->Location from GPX.
Review GPX and recording times. The GPX time should overlap the recording timestamps for best results.
Enter an offset in seconds to match GPX times with recording times if needed
If only partial GPX is available, only matching data will be used (see also max time offset)
If interpolation for non matching data should be used, check Interpolate
Choose maximal time offset in seconds to only use trackpoints close enough to a recording
Click OK to start merging
Matching recordings will be assigned the chronological closest trackpoint from the GPX
Tip
For passive monitoring on a single location, to change the recordings location select one or multiple recordings and then right-click the selection to open the context menu. Choose Assign->Location and select a location in the dialog.
Tip
If no GPX track is available at all, a track can be created out of the existing recording locations. This track can then be used to interpolate sporadic missing locations. To do this, select the recordings with location, choose Export->to GPX/KML and enter a filename with extension .gpx. Import the just created GPX file into the project and merge locations as described above.
“Good to know” when coming from BatExplorer version 1.x¶
- Settings are now split into Options and Project settings
- Options handle application specific settings like look and feelProject settings handle project specific settings like call detection, instant species buttons or export fieldsThe reason for this split is the need to have different settings for various analysis scenarios. E.g. have one set of settings for transects and an other for passive monitoring.The project settings are stored in the project file. Therefore if a project is shared with others, the settings are shared as well.To reuse the settings conveniently, you can use project templates.
Tip
“Old” v1 settings can be imported.
- The “Instant species” buttons are defined in the Project settings
You can now have as many “Instant species” buttons as you like. The first 9 buttons can also be accessed via keyboard shortcut Ctrl + 1, Ctrl + 2 … and they can be used in the Project Tab as well.
- Second species are now assigned via duplicate recording
To assign a second species to a recording, use the duplicate recording function.
- Old project files need to be converted
When opening an old v1 project with BatExplorer 2.x, the project file will be converted and thus can not be opened with v1 anymore. Anyway, a backup is made prior conversion automatically. The backup file is named “ProjectXYZ.bprBKPv1” and is stored in the project directory. If you want to go back to v1 for any reason you can delete the new v2 project file and rename the “.bprBKPv1” back to “bpr”. The new project data of v2 (tasks, used species library, etc.) will be lost then of course. However, the recordings metadata (e.g. classifications) are preserved. This procedure is only intended to go back once and not to switch back and forth between the versions.