splitMultiblockDX {readJDX}

Split a Multiblock JCAMP-DX File into Individual Files

Description

Process a multiblock JCAMP-DX file into separate files, one for each data set.

Usage

splitMultiblockDX(file = NULL, subdir = "data_sets")

Arguments

file

Length one character giving the name of the multiblock file.

subdir

Character. If not NULL, a subdirectory by this name will be created in the working directory, and the individual files will be placed in this subdirectory. If the subdirectory already exists, an error will be thrown.

Value

A list is returned invisibly that has one DX data set per list element. Individual files are written into the current directory if subdir = NULL, so you probably want to work on a copy of the data in this case. File names are extracted from the ##TITLE= sample_name field and will be sample_name (more precisely, the name will be whatever follows ##TITLE= on the line). If sample names are duplicated the output files will be overwritten as the file is processed (with a warning). In this case you should open the multiblock file in a plain text editor and search for ##TITLE=, then edit the names to be unique before running this function. Also, you should ensure that sample_name will result in a valid file name on your operating system.

Warning

Individual data sets are written into the current directory if you set subdir to NULL, so you may want to work on a copy of the data in this case.

Author(s)

Bryan A. Hanson, DePauw University.