Import REW data to Python

[mbrennwa]

Hello REW Gurus!

I have a bunch of REW *.mdat files that contain multiple spectra from harmonic distortion measurements (fundamental peak at 1 kHz, harmonics at 2 kHz, 3 kHz, 4 kHz, etc, and noise in between these peaks). I need to import these spectra to Python so I can further process and plot them. I asked ChatGPT, but no luck... is there any documentation on the file/data format, or even examples on how to read the data with Python?

(Yes, the obvious approach would be to open the files in REW, export the data to something "easy", and use this with Python -- but that's not what I am after. My computer platform does not seem to be supported by REW.)

 

[John Mulcahy]

You can use the API in the V5.40 beta release to get the responses of loaded mdat files. What is your platform?

 

[mbrennwa]

Using the API would require a working installation of REW, correct? I was not able to install REW on my machine Mac M1 / Linux. The installer said something about 32/64 issues.
I am looking for ways to read the data files from within Python.

 

[John Mulcahy]

You should be able to install the Linux version without JRE along with a Java 8 runtime.

 

[mbrennwa]

I managed to use another computer and install REW there. This allowed me to export the data to ASCII.
However it would still be useful to read the MDAT files directly.

 

[John Mulcahy]

That's impractical, I'm afraid. The mdat files are serialised Java objects, reading them would require the Java class files for all the classes they contain.