Adding Key-Value Pairs to the MDF File

For better organization and evaluation of MDF files, you can add key-value pairs to MDF 4.x files and file names. The key-value pairs can be defined by you to meet your needs for evaluation of measure data. The key-value pairs must be defined before recording and are then added to the MDF file.

Defining Key-Value Pairs

You can define a list of key-value pairs in one or more XML files, which can be stored in a user-defined subfolder of: ..\ETASData\KeyValuePairConfigurations

By selecting the respective subfolder in the INCA Database Manager, the key-value pairs can be activated. For details, see To activate key-value pairs for addition to MDF files during recording:.

XML example files

XML example files for key-value pair definitions are installed together with INCA in the following folder:
..\ETASData\KeyValuePairConfigurations\SampleKeyValuePairConfiguration
These example files include comments on how to define the key-value pairs and examples for XML configuration files.

You can copy the XML files from the SampleKeyValuePairConfiguration folder to your user-defined folder and modify the XML files according to your needs.

Possible value types:

static text
selection of text from a text list
GUID
date/datetime
boolean
numerical

Defining the Display Settings

How to define the display name for applying the user-defined XML configuration files is described in the description_properties.xml file, which you can copy from the SampleKeyValuePairConfiguration folder to your user-defined subfolder in ..\ETASData\KeyValuePairConfigurations.

At start and stop of a recording, the MDF key-value pairs Values Editor can be displayed. You can define the behavior in the configuration_properties.xml file, which is stored in the ..\ETASData\KeyValuePairConfigurations folder.

Activating and Selecting Key-Value Pairs

You can activate and select the usage of key-value pairs in the INCA Database Manager.

To activate key-value pairs for addition to MDF files during recording:

In the Database Manager, click Utilities > Activate MDF Key-Value Pairs Configuration
A list of available configurations is displayed in a context menu. Sample MDF Key-Value Pairs Configuration is the example configuration provided with the INCA Installation.
In the context menu, click on your desired configuration.
The name of the configuration corresponds to the name in the description_properties.xml file, which is in the corresponding user-defined folder in ..\ETASData\KeyValuePairConfigurations. All XML files of the corresponding user-defined folder will be applied for recordings.
Depending on your configuration, you can manually edit the values in the Key-Value Pairs Editor at start and/or stop of the recording. In case of automatic recorder start by a trigger, you can define fixed values already in the XML files.