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Igor Pro Packed Experiment (.pxp)

.pxp

WaveMetrics Igor Pro

What it is

Igor Pro's packed-experiment file — unlike a single .ibw wave, a .pxp bundles an entire experiment: a folder tree of named 1D waves. AltaiPlot reads it through a bundled Python bridge using igor2, a mature third-party Igor-file reader, following the folder structure to list every wave it contains.

Who produces it

Researchers using WaveMetrics Igor Pro for data acquisition, analysis, or plotting who want to move a whole saved experiment (not just one exported wave) into another tool.

What we read / what we don't read

What we read

  • 1D numeric waves, walking the full folder tree (not just the top level)
  • Wave names and their folder path, shown in a picker so you choose which wave to import
  • X-axis reconstruction from each wave's scaling factors (matching the same WaveMetrics TN003 formula used for standalone .ibw files)

What we don't read

  • Text waves
  • Complex-number waves
  • Multi-dimensional (2D+) waves
  • Wave header versions older than 5 (pre-Igor-5 files)
  • Graphs, notebooks, procedure (LabTalk-equivalent) windows, or anything else a .pxp can bundle besides waves

How to import it into AltaiPlot

  1. Open AltaiPlot and drag your .pxp file onto the window, or use File → Import.
  2. AltaiPlot detects the Igor packed-experiment signature and hands it to the bundled Python reader automatically.
  3. Every supported 1D numeric wave is listed by name and folder path — pick the one you need.
  4. Waves that can't be read (text, complex, multi-dimensional, or an old header version) are shown separately with the reason, not silently dropped.

Auditability note: this page's capability claims are sourced fromresources/python/app_sidecar.py:1361 — see the full format list for every extension AltaiPlot recognizes.