Loading and Visualizing Data
Loading Files
There are two ways to load data into Nexus:
- File button — Click the + button at the top of the Data tab in the left menu, select one or more files, and click Open.
- Drag and drop — Drag files from your file explorer directly onto the Nexus window.
Nexus automatically detects the file type and imports the signals. When you select multiple image files (DM3/DM4, EMD, or SER), Nexus offers to merge them into a combined time series.
For details on supported formats, merging options, and GMS dataset auto-detection, see Loading Files in the Data Management section.
Source Data vs. Workspace
The Data tab has two sections:
- Source Data — A read-only catalog of every signal found in your imported files. Only metadata is loaded at this stage, so opening files is fast. Signals here are not yet visualized on the canvas.
- Workspace — Your working set of signals. When you drag a signal from Source Data into the Workspace, Nexus loads the full signal data and assigns it a color. Only signals in the Workspace appear on visualization panels and in the timeline.
The Workspace supports folders, drag-and-drop reordering, renaming, and color-coding. It is saved and restored as part of your .nexus project file.
Visualizing Data
Once your signals are in the Workspace, drag them onto the canvas to create visualization panels. You can also create folders in the Workspace to organize signals before visualizing.
Nexus automatically selects an appropriate panel type based on the signal:
- Images and image series open in an Image Viewer
- Scalar time series (temperature, voltage, etc.) open in a Time Series Graph
- Spectra series open in a Spectrogram
You can also create panels manually from the Add Panel tab in the right sidebar and drag signals into them.