Output Files

Introduction

Output files options are offered in the fourth column of the user interface for Location Analysis, Overlap, Interaction, Habitat and Modelling. The options that are offered are dependent upon the analysis being conducted.

If an output file tick box is visible, selecting this tick box will cause the creation of a permanent file with a default filename created by taking the name (and folder) of the input file and adding a code identifying the analysis used to create it. If the tickbox is not selected the output file is given a temporary name and will be overwritten by subsequent analyses. To choose a different filename from the default, select the tickbox and type in the text box or press browse to search your files. If you choose an existing file you will be asked whether you want to overwrite that file, if you choose Yes the existing file will be renamed to overwrite.bak in the Ranges directory, and the new file will be created after the Run Analysis button is pressed.

All data files in Ranges contain text, and can therefore be viewed in text editors, except for raster maps (.rst) and image files (.ima) which are byte arrays. Coverage of the following output files can be seen in File Types.

Statistics files

These are files with column headers saved in comma-separated variable (.csv) format that can be opened in the Statistics window, double-clicked to open in Microsoft Excel or imported to an alternative spreadsheet.

Ranges files

Other files are mainly to be used as inputs for other Ranges analyses and for display as maps and as plots. They can also be viewed in a spreadsheet but the data are arranged to save space rather than for ease of interpretation.

Output filename codes for location analyses

The following codes are added to default output filenames, enabling the analysis that created them to be identified. Codes are highlighted in bold.

ConveX polygons

Peel centre:

focal site

harmonic mean

kernel centre

arithmetic mean centre

recalculated arithmetic mean

ConcaVe polygons

Edge restriction:

01 to 09 for 0.1 to 0.9, or in metres : 10m

Ellipses

Clusters

concaVe or conveX
Joining priority:

nearest neighbour, centroid

objective cores :

outlier exclusion:

truncation of distance distribution, iterative at 0.1,0.5,1% : i01, i05, i10

for convex:

separate polygons

inclusive polygon

for concave:

edge restrictions : 001 to 10 for 0.01 to 1.0

Kernels or Harmonic mean contours

Contours:

density, location inclusive (fitted to locations)

Harmonic mean options:

Locations centred, unmodified

Kernel type:

fixed, tail weighted, core weighted

Kernel smoothing:

multiplier 01 to 20, lscv Inflection, lscv Local min., lscv Global min

Matrix:

number of cells : e.g. n40, size of cells e.g. s10

Cores

e.g.:

selected cores : _50%75%95%

5% intervals : _25to100%