TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY
KINS 3591

Human Movement Analysis

Importing into Excel

Follow the steps below to import your file into Excel:

  1. Open Excel.
  2. In the File pull down menu, select "Open."
  3. Change the "Files of type" (bottom of the window) to "All Files (*.*)"
  4. Select your .dat file (e.g., stars.dat) from your Zip disc, then press "Open."
  5. In the "Text Import Wizard" window, ensure the "Delimited" option is selected. Select "Next>"
  6. In this "Text Import Wizard" window, ensure only the "Tab" box is checked, and the "Treat consecutive delimiters as one" box is unchecked. Select "Finish."
  7. CAUTION: IF YOU ARE IMPORTING FORCE PLATE DATA, SKIP THIS STEP. Once the data has imported, you need to change the time column to properly reflect the time base (1/60th second). The times that are imported are usually estimates of the true values (e.g., the imported time at frame 1 = 0.0167, while the true time at frame 1 = 1/60 =  0.0166666666666, ad infinitum). To modify the time, place the cursor over cell B3 and left click the mouse, then enter "=A3/60" and press "Enter."
  8. Place the cursor over cell B3 and left click the mouse. In the Format pulldown menu, select "Cells." In the Number tab, select "Number" and change the "Decimal places" to 4. Select "OK."
  9. You now need to copy this formula to the rest of the rows in Column B. Move the cursor to the lower right hand corner of cell B3. When you move it over the small black square at the lower right, you will see it change shape from a "" to a "+". Once this shape change occurs, click and hold the left mouse button, then drag down the entire column until you reach the end of your data.
  10. Next, you will delete the z-position columns (since all you have are x and y positions). To do this, place the cursor in the top row (where the Column designator letters are) above the first column that contains a z-position, and left click the mouse. Then, holding the control key (Ctrl) down, left click each z-position column, until all of them are highlighted. Delete any blank columns in the same manner.
  11. In the Edit pull down menu, select "Delete."
  12. In the File pull down menu, select "Save As."
  13. In the Save window, change the file name to your team name (e.g., stars), and the "Save as type:" to "Microsoft Excel Workbook (*.xls)"
  14. Select "Save" (make sure you save to your Zip disc).

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Updated 08/02/2003 by Gary Christopher, MS, ATC
Texas Woman's University, Department of Kinesiology, College of Health Sciences