.. algorithm::

.. summary::

.. relatedalgorithms::

.. properties::

Description
-----------

The LoadAscii2 algorithm reads in spectra data from a text file and
stores it in a :ref:`Workspace2D <Workspace2D>` as data points, or a Table Workspace if it is table data. The data in
the file must be organized in columns separated by commas, tabs, spaces,
colons or semicolons. Only one separator type can be used throughout the
file; use the "Separator" property to tell the algorithm which to use.
The algorithm :ref:`SaveAscii2 <algm-SaveAscii-v2>` is normally able to produce
such a file.

The format must be (Workspace 2D):

-  A single integer or blank line to denote a new spectra
-  For each bin, between two and four columns of delimited data in the
   following order: 1st column=X, 2nd column=Y, 3rd column=E, 4th
   column=DX (X error)
-  Comments can be included by prefixing the line with a non-numerical
   character which must be consistent throughout the file and specified
   when you load the file. Defaults to "#"
-  The number of bins is defined by the number of rows and must be
   identical for each spectra

The following is an example valid file of 4 spectra of 2 bins each with
no X error::

    #. X , Y , E

    1 2.00000000,2.00000000,1.00000000 4.00000000,1.00000000,1.00000000 2
    2.00000000,5.00000000,2.00000000 4.00000000,4.00000000,2.00000000 3
    2.00000000,3.00000000,1.00000000 4.00000000,0.00000000,0.00000000 4
    2.00000000,0.00000000,0.00000000 4.00000000,0.00000000,0.00000000

The format must be (Table Workspace):

-  Two commented header lines
-  The first containing the column names
-  The second containing the column types (str, int, unit, long64, size_t, float, double, bool, V3D)
-  The number of column names, types and data items must match


The following is an example valid file of two columns::

	# Instrument Name , Run Number
	# str , int
	MUSR,10245
	IRIS,8465
	SANS2D,20462

Usage
-----

**Example**

.. testcode:: LoadASCII

    #import the os path libraries for directory functions
    import os

    # create histogram workspace
    dataX1 = [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] # or use dataX1=range(0,10)
    dataY1 = [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] # or use dataY1=range(0,9)
    dataE1 = [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1] # or use dataE1=[1]*9

    ws1 = CreateWorkspace(dataX1, dataY1, dataE1)

    #Create an absolute path by joining the proposed filename to a directory
    #os.path.expanduser("~") used in this case returns the home directory of the current user
    savefile = os.path.join(os.path.expanduser("~"), "AsciiFile.txt")

    # perform the algorithm
    SaveAscii(InputWorkspace=ws1,Filename=savefile)

    #Load it again - Load would work just as well as LoadAscii
    wsOutput = LoadAscii(savefile,Unit="Label")

    print(CompareWorkspaces(ws1,wsOutput)[0])

    #clean up the file I saved
    os.remove(savefile)

Output:

.. testoutput:: LoadASCII

   True

.. categories::

.. sourcelink::