File Upload

The upload dropzone accepts COMTRADE files via drag-and-drop or click-to-browse. It transitions through several visual states as you interact with it.

Before uploading, you can choose how the file is stored using the storage mode selector below the dropzone.

Save to Cloud (default)

The recording is uploaded to your Detego account. It appears in the Recordings dashboard, and all display settings, annotations, computed signals, and reports are persisted across sessions. You can share the recording with others via a link.

Local Only

The file is parsed and loaded entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded to the cloud. This is useful when you want to quickly inspect a file without adding it to your recordings library.

Local-only files have full access to all viewer tabs and features (compute, harmonics, impedance, AI analysis, etc.), but:

• The file will not appear in your Recordings dashboard
• All work is lost when you close or refresh the page
• Sharing is not available (there is no cloud copy to share)
• Display settings, annotations, and reports are not persisted

Detego supports COMTRADE files as defined by IEEE C37.111. COMTRADE (Common format for Transient Data Exchange) is the universal standard for exchanging power system disturbance recordings between equipment, software, and utilities.

Two file arrangements are supported:

Separate Files (.cfg + .dat)

The minimum requirement is two files:

• Configuration file (.cfg) — A text file defining station name, device ID, channel names, units, scaling factors, sample rates, and timestamps
• Data file (.dat) — Contains the actual sample values in either ASCII or Binary format

Both files must share the same base filename (e.g., recording.cfg and recording.dat). Drop both files into the viewer together.

If your recording includes additional companion files, you can upload them alongside the .cfg and .dat:

• Header file (.hdr) — Free-form text with recording context such as equipment details, event descriptions, or operator notes
• Information file (.inf) — Structured metadata including private data fields, annotations, and additional channel information defined by IEEE C37.111

These are optional — Detego will use them if present but does not require them.

Combined File (.cff)

The IEEE C37.111-2013 combined file format packs the configuration, data, header, and information sections into a single text file. This is the newer standard and is more convenient to share.

When you upload a COMTRADE file, Detego extracts and organizes the following data:

Recording Metadata

• Station name and device identifier (displayed in the bottom recording info bar)
• Trigger timestamp — the absolute date/time of the recording
• Sample rate(s) — the sampling frequency in Hz (click to edit in the bottom info bar)
• Recording duration in milliseconds

Analog Channels

Each analog channel includes:

• Channel name (e.g., "Ia", "Vbn", "3I0")
• Unit (A, kA, V, kV, etc.)
• Phase identifier — auto-detected from the channel name (A/B/C or 1/2/3)
• Scaling factors — multiplier and offset applied to raw sample values
• Time-aligned sample data — the actual waveform values at each timestamp

Digital Channels

Binary status channels (0 or 1) representing relay logic signals:

• Channel name (e.g., "Trip", "Close", "52a", "I> Start")
• State transitions — detected as events with timestamps

All parsing happens entirely in your browser. No data is sent to any server during file upload and parsing.

Detego automatically identifies channel types and phases from naming conventions. Separators (_, ., -, space) between prefix and phase letter are accepted anywhere (e.g., I_A, V-B, U.C).

Phase-neutral channels:

Line-to-line voltage pairs:

Residual / neutral channels:

Phase detection drives automatic color assignment and enables grouping in the viewer sidebar. Three-phase triplets are automatically detected for sequence component calculations.