The Origin project file is, primarily, a data storage container. While in the Origin session, you have direct access to all Origin data -- imported data; graphs and layout windows; analysis results; notes concerning results or procedures; even internally saved MS Excel data (.XLS) files. In addition, you can store any 3rd party file type in the Origin project file -- MS Word DOC files, instrument data files, image files, template files, etc. -- allowing you to attach any relevant document to the .OPJ file and retrieve it when the project file is reopened.
Origin's Project Explorer (PE) window is provided to help you organize the contents of your Origin project file. Using Project Explorer, you can create a folder structure inside the Origin Project file that is similar in form and function to the familiar folder structure of Windows Explorer. When a project file is open, you can modify this folder structure as needed, sorting child windows by date, experiment or window type (graph, workbook, notes, etc.). In addition, you can use PE to save a portion of your project to a new file. Conversely, you can use Project Explorer's Append feature to add the contents of another project file to the current project file. All data contained in Origin child windows -- workbooks, graphs, matrices, notes and layout windows, as well as internally saved MS Excel files -- can be organized with PE.
From an organizational standpoint, your Origin data might reside in a series of folders, with each folder containing a collection of window objects. In turn, each of these window objects contains sub-objects -- worksheets, graph layers, matrix sheets, text information, etc. -- and each of these sub-objects typically contains one or more sub-sub-objects -- datasets, dataplots, annotations, metadata, etc.
Recognition and understanding of this organizational structure is important because each object, each sub-object, etc. in the project file hierarchy (each window, each dataset, etc.) possesses a unique name and each is addressable by name, from the command line or from your LabTalk scripts or your Origin C functions. From the standpoint of the graphical user interface (GUI), object names and language syntax are less important and mostly hidden (object names are exposed in various areas throughout the GUI as, for instance, in child window title bars, in dialog boxes, in the Data List, etc.). When issuing commands at the command line or when writing LabTalk scripts or Origin C functions, having an understanding of Origin's object hierarchy, object naming schemes and programming syntax is essential.
| The Origin Project File: |