174 Chapter 4
Analyzing and Displaying Test Data
Agilent VEE Data Shapes and Data Types
Agilent VEE Data Shapes and Data Types
In a VEE program, data is transmitted across the lines between objects and is
then processed by subsequent objects. In order to specify a set of data, VEE
packages it into a container that has both a data shape (scalar or array) and
a data type (such as
Int32, Real64, or Text).
Data Shape: A scalar is a single number including numbers expressed as
two or more components such as complex numbers, and an array contains a
group of data items that can be specified as one dimensional (Array 1D), two
dimensional (Array 2D), etc.
Data Types: The VEE data types are described in Table 4-1.
In general, you will not be concerned with data types or shapes, because
most objects operate on any VEE data type and will automatically convert
data to the type required for that object. For example, if a Magnitude
Spectrum display receives a Waveform data type, VEE automatically
performs a Fast Fourier Transform to convert it from the time domain into
the frequency domain.
Occasionally, however, an object requires a particular data type so it is good
to be aware of them. You will also want to be aware of the differences in
supported data types between VEE and MATLAB. (For more information,
refer to the section “Working with Data Types” on page 191.)
The following are brief descriptions of VEE data types that you can read
through quickly. Issues involving using these data types is explained in
subsequent chapters.