What is file format of NI SPY capture files?

[leebeau]

I have very large NI Spy capture files from customer to analyze. I would like to write my own parser to look for specific conditions. Is there a way to get a specification of the binary file format?

Note, the files are too large to use ASCII export from NI Spy. The large files because many hours of runtime is necessary before errors occur during unattended operation. I don't have a way to stop logging at time of error.

-Lee

[TobyHex]

Hello LeeBeau,
If you do not mind, could you please explain your problem a bit more? If I understand you correctly, you cannot simply export the NI Spy capture to a .txt file because it is too big? Otherwise, I am sure you are aware of how to Export as a .txt file as shown in the following KnowledgeBase. If you are unable to export as a .txt file, the only other option is to save as a .spy file, which will not allow you to parse through with your own program. The other choice would be to periodically stop and restart the NI Spy capture to allow for a smaller export file. Thanks again and have a great day!
Regards,

Nicholas K

[leebeau]

My capture file is too big to load into NI Spy (over 200-300 MB) so I cannot export.

The events we are trying to capture are intermittent and may take hours or days to occur. The systems cannot be attend for the duration to keep restarting logs (which grow quickly). Furthermore, the systems we're trying to autopsy are installed at customer site where we have limited access.

My problem is what to do when spy files (binary) are too large to be read into NI Spy (e.g. when restart log interval was too long). My perfect solution would be to understand the .spy file format so I can write my own utility to process large files (this has advantage of being able to programatically screen for specific criteria related to failure modes). Alternatively, a utility that could split a large file into smaller manageable files would solve my problem.

[TobyHex]

Leebeau,
So I have a solution to your second method that I have tested and works fine, although it might be a bit tedious on your end. Within NI Spy there is an option that allows to you split up large files into multiple smaller files of your choosing. To do this you click on Spy in the top Menu bar and then select Options. From there choose the Logging tab, which will have an option at the bottom to split contents across multiple files. By selecting this option as well as the log to file option, you will be able to split your file into smaller .spy files to be opened on your own computer. I have attached pictures of the Tabs to click on just in case you are unsure what to change. As for the export to a .txt file, what keeps you from exporting the file on the original computer to a .txt and then just transferring that over to your computer to analyze with your own program? Good Luck!
Regards,

Nicholas K