Skip to content

Query & Analysis Tools

The query rectangle lets you select a region of your plot and instantly see statistics about the data inside it — min, max, mean, frequency content, rise time, and more.

Creating a Query Rectangle

Ctrl + drag in any subplot to draw a rectangular selection. A green overlay shows the selected area. When you release the mouse, a tooltip appears with statistics for every visible series inside the rectangle.

You can also middle-click + drag as an alternative to Ctrl + drag.

Adjusting the Rectangle

After creation, the rectangle has interactive handles:

  • Corners — drag to resize in both dimensions
  • Edges — drag to resize in one dimension
  • Interior — drag to move the whole rectangle

Statistics recalculate each time you release after an adjustment. Creating a new rectangle replaces the previous one (one per subplot).

Statistics

Results appear in a tooltip anchored to the rectangle corner. Each visible series inside the rectangle gets its own section.

Basic Statistics

Statistic Description Default
Mean Average value On
Delta Peak-to-peak (max minus min) On
Min Minimum value Off
Max Maximum value Off
Std Standard deviation Off
Count Number of data points Off

Window Measurements

Statistic Description Default
Window Width Time span of the selected region (seconds) On
Window Frequency 1 / window width (Hz) Off

Signal Analysis

Statistic Description Default
Ramp Rate Rate of change from first to last point in the region (units/s) Off
RMS Root mean square value Off
Dominant Frequency Peak frequency via FFT with Hann windowing and parabolic interpolation Off

Power Systems Metrics (NER)

These are specialized calculations for power systems analysis. Two NER standard variants are available — NER 233 (legacy, uses maximum change) and NER 234+ (current, uses sustained/mean change):

Statistic Description Default
Rise Time (NER 233) Time for 10%-90% of maximum change Off
Rise Time (NER 234+) Time for 10%-90% of sustained change Off
Recovery Time Time to reach 95% of initial value after a disturbance Off
Settling Time (NER 233) Time to stay within 10% tolerance band (see note below) Off
Settling Time (NER 234+) Time to stay within 10% tolerance of sustained change Off
Damping Ratio Oscillation damping via matrix pencil method Off

NER 233 vs NER 234+

NER 234+ always measures against the sustained change (final value minus initial value) for both rise time and settling time.

NER 233 uses the maximum excursion (including overshoot) for rise time. For settling time, it picks whichever is larger between max excursion and sustained change — so if there's significant overshoot, the tolerance band gets wider.

Configuring Which Statistics to Show

Open Settings and look for the query options. Each statistic can be toggled on or off independently. Only enabled statistics appear in the results tooltip.

How Results are Displayed

When you release the mouse after creating or adjusting a rectangle:

  1. All visible series inside the rectangle are identified
  2. Data is filtered to the rectangle's X (time) and Y (value) bounds
  3. Each enabled statistic is calculated per series
  4. A green tooltip appears at the corner of the rectangle showing all results, grouped by series name

The tooltip is automatically replaced when you adjust the rectangle or create a new one.

Multi-Series Analysis

When multiple series fall inside the rectangle, each one is analysed independently. Results are grouped by series name so you can compare values side by side — useful for checking how different signals behave over the same time window.

Working with Transformed Data

Query rectangles work correctly with transformed data. If you've applied scaling or offsets to a series (via templates or the legend sliders), the query coordinates are automatically inverse-transformed to match the original data before filtering. This means the statistics reflect the transformed values you see on screen.

Tips

  • Quick measurement: Ctrl + drag a narrow rectangle across a signal to get its value at a specific time — check the mean. This saves reading off the y-axis.
  • Frequency measurement: Draw a rectangle spanning exactly one cycle of an oscillation. The window frequency tells you the signal frequency directly without needing FFT.
  • Comparing responses: With multiple files plotted on the same subplot, a single query rectangle lets you compare statistics across all of them at once.
  • Rise/settling time: For meaningful NER results, draw the rectangle from just before the disturbance to well after settling. The calculations need at least 10 data points.