National Instruments TDMS (.tdms)
.tdmsNational Instruments (NI) DAQ/measurement software — LabVIEW, DIAdem, and similar
What it is
National Instruments' Technical Data Management Streaming format — a binary layout for logged/streamed measurement channels, written against NI's own published internal-structure documentation.
Who produces it
Labs using National Instruments DAQ hardware and software (LabVIEW, DIAdem) to log measurement channels.
What we read / what we don't read
What we read
- Numeric channel types (8/16/32/64-bit signed and unsigned integers, single/double float), Boolean, and TimeStamp channels
- Multi-segment files following the common "fixed schema, more data appended per segment" logging pattern
What we don't read
- String-typed channel data (channel properties can still be strings, just not the channel's actual data)
- DAQmx raw data and big-endian files — both rejected explicitly
- Segments that add/remove/pause channels mid-file (an incremental object list) rather than either repeating the exact same channel set or declaring a completely fresh one
How to import it into AltaiPlot
- Open AltaiPlot and drag your .tdms file onto the window, or use File → Import.
- AltaiPlot detects the TDMS signature and reads it directly — no external dependency involved.
- Each supported numeric/Boolean/TimeStamp channel lands as a plotting-ready column.
Auditability note: this page's capability claims are sourced fromsrc/renderer/src/engine/v7/import/importers/TdmsImporter.ts:8 — see the full format list for every extension AltaiPlot recognizes.