Python Comtrade is a module for Python 3 designed to read Common Format for Transient Data Exchange (COMTRADE) files. These consists of oscillography data recorded during power system outages, control systems tests, validation and tests of field equipment, protective relaying logs, etc. The COMTRADE format is defined by IEEE Standards, summarized in the table below. Some equipment vendors put additional information in proprietary versions of it. This module aims IEEE definitions but may support those proprietary versions.
Standard | Revision |
---|---|
IEEE C37.111(TM)-1991 | 1991 |
IEEE C37.111(TM)-1999 | 1999 |
IEC 60255-24:2001 | 2001 |
IEEE C37.111(TM)-2013 / IEC 60255-24:2013 | 2013 |
pip install comtrade
Or just copy comtrade.py
from this repository.
- Python 3.6 or newer
- (optional) numpy for speed improvement
- (optional) pandas for data frame support
The examples below shows how to open both CFG and DAT files or the new CFF file to plot (using pyplot
) analog channel oscillography.
Comtrade files separated in CFG and DAT formats can also be read with load
function. A CFG
file path must be passed as an argument and, optionally, a DAT
file path too (if the file name is not equal of the CFG file).
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import comtrade
rec = comtrade.load("sample_files/sample_ascii.cfg", "sample_files/sample_ascii.dat")
print("Trigger time = {}s".format(rec.trigger_time))
plt.figure()
plt.plot(rec.time, rec.analog[0])
plt.plot(rec.time, rec.analog[1])
plt.legend([rec.analog_channel_ids[0], rec.analog_channel_ids[1]])
plt.show()
It will read the contents of additional header (*.hdr
) and information (*.inf
) files.
Their contents are available through Comtrade.hdr
and Comtrade.inf
properties.
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import comtrade
rec = comtrade.load("sample_files/sample_ascii.cff")
print("Trigger time = {}s".format(rec.trigger_time))
plt.figure()
plt.plot(rec.time, rec.analog[0])
plt.plot(rec.time, rec.analog[1])
plt.legend([rec.analog_channel_ids[0], rec.analog_channel_ids[1]])
plt.show()
The module function load
must be called with the CFF
file path specified.
Comtrade.analog
and Comtrade.status
lists stores analog and status channel sample lists respectively. These can be accessed through zero-based indexes, i.e., Comtrade.analog[0]
. The list Comtrade.time
stores each sample time in seconds.
More information can be accessed through Comtrade.cfg
object, which stores data such as detailed channel information.
Data of additional sections, such as HDR and INF, can be accessed through hdr
and inf
properties, respectively.
The module supports the use of pandas.DataFrame
as a data structure. Use the conveninent function load_as_dataframe
or call
Comtrade.to_dataframe()
function after loading the data.
import comtrade
df = comtrade.load_as_dataframe("sample_files/sample_ascii.cfg")
print(df.head())
# Or, alternatively
rec = comtrade.load("sample_files/sample_ascii.cfg")
df = rec.to_dataframe()
print(df.head())
This module implements some of the functionality described in each of the Standard revisions. The tables below lists some features and file formats and which revision supports it. It also shows whether this module support the feature or the format.
Feel free to pull requests implementing one of these unsupported features or fixing bugs.
Formats | 1991 | 1999 | 2001 | 2013 | Module Support |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CFG file format | x | x | x | x | x |
DAT file format | x | x | x | x | x |
HDR file format | x | x | x | x | no |
INF file format | x | x | x | no | |
CFF file format | x | x | |||
ASCII data file format | x | x | x | x | x |
Binary data file format | x | x | x | x | x |
Binary32 data file format | x | x | |||
Float32 data file format | x | x | |||
Schema for phasor data | x | no |
Features | 1991 | 1999 | 2001 | 2013 | Module Support |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
COMTRADE standard revision | x | x | x | x | |
Timestamp multiplication factor | x | x | x | x | |
Time code and local code | x | x | |||
Time quality of the samples | x | x | |||
Analog channel time skew | x | x | x | Partial | |
Analog channel primary and secondary VT or CT ratio | x | x | x | x | |
Status channel phase and monitored circuit | x | x | x | x | |
Multiple sample rates | x | x | x | x | Partial |
Nanoseconds scale | x | x | x |
- Nanoseconds time base within Python's
datetime
objects (such asstart_timestamp
andtrigger_timestamp
properties). It warns the user but doesn't use it, truncating the numbers. - Use of multiple sample rates in time calculations for binary data.
The use of numpy.array
as a data structure to hold time, analog and status data can be enforced
in Comtrade
object constructor:
obj = Comtrade(use_numpy_arrays=True)
It may improve performance for computations after loading data.
Missing analog values are replaced with float('nan')
. The value used to represent missing data varies with the
Comtrade dat format and revision year. These are listed in the table next.
revision | format | Missing Data Value |
---|---|---|
1991 | ascii | "" (empty string) |
1999, 2013 | ascii | 99999 |
1991 | binary | 0xFFFF |
1999, 2013 | binary | 0x8000 or -32768 |
2013 | binary32 | 0x80000000 or -2147483648 |
2013 | float32 | minimum negative float value |
Specify the encoding
as a keyword argument on all load methods as you'd specify for common file loading:
import comtrade
comtrade.load("sample_files/sample_ascii.cff", encoding="iso-8859-1")
https://github.com/dparrini/python-comtrade
Feel free to report any bugs you find. You are welcome to fork and submit pull requests.
To run tests, use Python's unittest
. From a clone of the GitHub repository, run the command:
python3 -m unittest ./tests/tests.py
The module is available at GitHub under the MIT license.