How to read the binary file generated by DiskCheckup?

[lyl]

Hi,

I've just installed DiskCheckup to test my HDD reliability.

However, i found that i cannot view the contents of the binary file neither using Notepad nor Excel. This binary file is generated by DiskCheckup and saved in the same folder with DiskCheckup under Program Files.

Thank you very much for your help.

[David (PassMark)]

The binary file was not designed to be read by a human. There is the export function for this.

[lyl]

The binary file was not designed to be read by a human. There is the export function for this.

Thank you for your prompt reply.

So, do you mean that we can only use the bottom right button (Export) in the DiskCheckup window to store the attributes data in a text file?

But it can only save the data at that moment. If i want to keep track on the data every one minute for one hour, then i need to click the button every minute.

Is there a better way to do it?

[sk]

So, do you mean that we can only use the bottom right button (Export) in the DiskCheckup window to store the attributes data in a text file?

But it can only save the data at that moment. If i want to keep track on the data every one minute for one hour, then i need to click the button every minute.

Is there a better way to do it?

Yes, you can only use the export function to store the attribute data in a text file.

There is an auto-refresh option when you click on the "Configuration" button. Just set the refresh interval (in minutes) and DiskCheckup will automatically refresh the attributes. However, when it refreshes, it doesn't automatically exports each set of attribute to the text file as the file might get too big. DiskCheckup is able to send you notification e-mail or pop up a prompt should any attribute exceeds the threshold value via the "Action on Threshold Exceed Condition" from the configuration window.

[lyl]

If i use the SmartDisk DLL SDK and write a program to call the "SmartDLL_ExportReport" function, i will also get the report in text format, right?

Or if i want to record some SMART attributes only, can i just call "SmartDLL_GetSmartAttributeByID" function, and then output the data to a text file of my own?

[sk]

If i use the SmartDisk DLL SDK and write a program to call the "SmartDLL_ExportReport" function, i will also get the report in text format, right?

Or if i want to record some SMART attributes only, can i just call "SmartDLL_GetSmartAttributeByID" function, and then output the data to a text file of my own?

You are correct. SmartDll_ExportReport exports it in text format.

SmartDll_GetSmartAttributeByID allows you to retrieve an attribute of a disk at a time as an integer or a string (if you want to know its description). You can then format the data anyway you like.

There are 2 other functions that would be helpful:

SmartDll_GetTECDataSetCount - returns the number of sets of recorded SMART attribute data in the binary file (one set could have 10 attributes for example - temperature, spin-up time, etc, each set recorded when the attributes are refreshed).

SmartDll_ExportData - exports all recorded data sets (time, normalized attribute value and worst value) to the buffer array that you passed in. Since the threshold value remains the same, threshold values are not recorded and can be retrieved by SmartDll_GetSmartAttributeByID.