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Export of animal data and measurement values

Export animal data and measurement values on the VitalControl to CVS data files.

1: Data export to USB flash drive
2: Data export to a mass storage device of your PC using the VCSynchronizer software
3: Structure and content of the exported CSV data files

1 - Data export to USB flash drive

Export CVS data files containing animal data and measurement values stored on the VitalControl device to a USB flash drive.

Required accessory

In order to perform an export of your device data, you need a dual USB flash drive (2-in-1 USB stick) Type-C/USB 3.0 with a USB C connector and a USB A connector. Such a dual USB flash drive is delivered together with your device. You may also purchase such an USB flash drive from different vendors.

Dual USB flash drive (USB A / USB C)

Perform data export

Open the menu item Device in the main screen of your VitalControl device.
Invoke the submenu Data management, select the menu item Animal data and confirm with OK.
Another submenu opens. Select the menu item Export animal data (csv) and confirm with OK.
You are now asked to insert an USB flash drive:
Insert the USB flash drive (C plug) into the connector at the bottom of the device.
Once the device detected insertion of the USB stick, data export is automatically started. Writing the backup data may take a few seconds. When the data export finished, a success message is displayed:
Data export is now complete. You will find the four created export files inside the directory export-csv on your USB flash drive.
Notes
- To prevent accidental overwriting of export files, the file name of each export file always includes the date and time when the file was created. Be sure to use the latest version of the export files if you have exported animal data multiple times.
- The file size of the export files depends on the number of animals on the VitalControl and on the number of measurements performed. In general, the export files only occupy a few kB of storage space on the USB stick.

2 - Data export to a mass storage device of your PC using the VCSynchronizer software

Export CVS files with animal data and measured values of the VitalControl device to the mass storage of a computer.

3 - Structure and content of the exported CSV data files

Description of the structure and content of the four data files created during the export.

General information

When exporting animal data, regardless of whether to the USB flash drive or to a local mass storage device on the PC, four export files are generated in each case:

Animal data (animals.csv)
Body temperature data (temperatures.csv)
Weight data (weights.csv)
Animal ratings (ratings.csv)

All four files are human readable CSV text files. The files are encoded in UTF-8 format, semicolons (;) are used as column separators. The individual data fields are not enclosed in quotation marks. Each row of the respective table represents an animal data set or a measurement or assessment performed on an animal.

Further processing of exported data

You can open each of these four export files in a spreadsheet program of your choice (such as Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc) and perform advanced analysis of the data there. As an example, the view of the table animals.csv in a spreadsheet program is shown below:

Exported animal data, opened in a spreadsheet program

Description of data files

The following four sections describe each of the exported data files in detail:

Animal data (`animals.csv`)

File name animals.csv
Description General animal data
Number of columns 6

Each row of the animal data table represents one animal stored on the VitalControl. An exemplary animal data table thus has the following appearance:

National-ID-Animal;Farm-ID-Animal;Transponder-ID;DateOfBirth;Sex;BirthWeight-Kg
276000312341001;1001;276000312341001;2023-07-03;F;
276000312341002;1002;276000312341002;2023-07-04;F;40.8
276000312341003;1003;276000312341003;2023-07-05;F;38.3
…

The following table lists and describes each column of the animal data table:

Column	Name of column	Description	Comments
1	`National-ID-Animal`	Official national animal number	15 digits according to ISO1174/85, maybe not recorded
2	`Farm-ID-Animal`	Management number	2- to 6 digits, often equal to number at collar
3	`Transponder-ID`	Transponder number	may be missing , may be identical with national animal ID
4	`DateOfBirth`	Date of birth	Format: `YYYY-MM-TT` (`Year-Month-Day`)
5	`Sex`	Sex	Values: `M`: male, `F`: female, `?`: unknown
6	`BirthWeight-Kg`	Birth weight	Unit: `kilogram`, maybe not recorded / missing

If needed, you can also download the provided sample file animals.csv.

Body temperature data (`temperatures.csv`)

File name temperatures.csv
Description Temperature values, obtained by taking the rectal body temperature of animals.
Number of columns 5

Each line of the temperature data table represents a body temperature measurement performed on an animal with VitalControl device. An exemplary temperature table thus has the following appearance:

National-ID-Animal;Farm-ID-Animal;Date;Time;Temperature-Celsius
276000312341001;1001;276000312341001;2023-07-24;38.03
276000312341002;1002;276000312341002;2023-07-24;40.12
276000312341003;1003;276000312341003;2023-07-24;39.97
…

a The following table lists and describes each column of the export file containing the body temperature values:

Column	Name of column	Description	Comments
1	`National-ID-Animal`	15-digit number of measured animal	according to ISO1174/85, maybe not recorded
2	`Farm-ID-Animal`	Management number of measured animal	2- to 6 digits, often equal to collar number
3	`Date`	Date of temperature measurement	Format: `YYYY-MM-TT` (`Year-Month-Day`)
4	`Time`	Uhrzeit der Temperaturmessung	Format: `hh-mm-ss` (`hour:minute:second`)
5	`Temperature-Celsius`	Measured temperature value	Unit: `Grad Celsius`

If needed, you can also download the provided sample file temperatures.csv. The figure below shows this data file opened in a spreadsheet program.

Export file with body temperature values, opened in spreadsheet program

Weight data (`weights.csv`)

File name weights.csv
Description Weight values obtained by weighing animals
Number of columns 5

Each line of the weight table represents one weighing of an animal using the VitalControl device for recording the weight value. An exemplary weight table thus has the following appearance:

National-ID-Animal;Farm-ID-Animal;Date;Time;Weight-Kg
276000312341001;1001;276000312341001;2023-07-24;67.8
276000312341002;1002;276000312341002;2023-07-24;F;40.4
276000312341003;1003;276000312341003;2023-07-24;F;104.2
…

The following table lists and describes the individual columns of the table containing the animal weights:

Column	Name of column	Description	Comments
1	`National-ID-Animal`	15-digit number of weighed animal	according to ISO1174/85, maybe not recorded
2	`Farm-ID-Animal`	Management number of weighed animal	2- to 6 digits, often equal to collar number
3	`Date`	Date of weighing	Format: `YYYY-MM-TT` (`Year-Month-Day`)
4	`Time`	Time of weighing	Format: `hh-mm-ss` (`hour:minute:second`)
5	`Weight-Kg`	Weight value	Unit: `Kilogram`

If needed, you can also download the provided sample file weights.csv. The figure below shows this export file opened in a spreadsheet program.

Export file with animal weight values, opened in spreadsheet program

Animal ratings (`ratings.csv`)

File name ratings.csv
Description Animal ratings obtained by visually inspecting the animals
Number of columns 8

Each row of the animal ratings table represents the visual rating of an an animal evaluation performed with VitalControl. An exemplary table with animal rating has the following appearance:

National-ID-Animal;Farm-ID-Animal;Date;Time;ScoreCondition;ScoreFeedIntake;ScoreScours;ScoreRespiratory
276000312341001;1001;276000312341001;2023-07-24;Green;Yellow;Yellow;Green
276000312341002;1002;276000312341002;2023-07-24;Yellow;Yellow;Yellow;Red
276000312341003;1003;276000312341003;2023-07-24;Green;None;None;None
…

The following table lists and describes each column of the animal ratings table:

Column	Name of column	Description	Comments
1	`National-ID-Animal`	15-digit number of rated animal	according to ISO1174/85, maybe not recorded
2	`Farm-ID-Animal`	Management number of rated animal	2- to 6 digits, often equal to collar number
3	`Date`	Date of rating	Format: `YYYY-MM-TT` (`Year-Month-Day`)
4	`Time`	Time of rating	Format: `hh-mm-ss` (`hour:minute:second`)
5	`ScoreCondition`	Rating of general condition	Ratings: `Red`, `Yellow`, `Green`, `None`
6	`ScoreFeedIntake`	Rating of feed intake	Ratings: `Red`, `Yellow`, `Green`, `None`
7	`ScoreScours`	Rating of status concerning `Scours`	Ratings: `Red`, `Yellow`, `Green`, `None`
8	`ScoreRespiratory`	Rating of status `Respiratory diseases`	Ratings: `Red`, `Yellow`, `Green`, `None`

If necessary, you can also download the provided sample file ratings.csv. The figure below shows this file opened in a spreadsheet program.

Export file with animal ratings, opened in spreadsheet program