Project Management

A Deepsona project stores the way you have configured an analysis: every node in the Pool, with every parameter, in every stage. It is a settings document, not a data container — the measurement files and the computed results live outside it. This page describes exactly what a project holds, how to save, open and reuse one, where results are written, and what to do when a project has to move to another computer.

The Analysis Project File

The project of the main analysis window is a Pool project saved as a JSON file with the extension .json. The save dialog offers the file type Pool Project JSON (*.json) and suggests the name PoolProject.json; replace it with something descriptive, such as GearboxRunUp_OrderAnalysis.json.

The file is plain UTF-8 text, indented and readable. It can be diffed, kept under version control, and attached to a report or a test procedure.
It is small, typically a few kilobytes, because it contains settings only.
It contains no measurement samples and no computed values. Opening a project does not, by itself, produce any results — you supply the data and run the pipeline.

The structural workbench (EMA / OMA / ODS) has a project file of its own with the extension .vlproj. It is a different format for a different workspace — see Two Kinds of Project File below.

What Is Stored in a Project

Written to the project file	Not written to the project file
Every Pool node in every stage: its kind, display name and enabled state	The measurement data itself — only paths are ever recorded
The complete parameter set of each node: FFT size, window, overlap, averaging, weighting, frequency and order ranges, export destinations, and so on	Computed results, charts, Data Viewer and Mark Editor sessions, and open workspace tabs
Which Destination node drives the pipeline display after a run	Window and panel layout, chart zoom, axis ranges, cursors and colour maps
The visibility state of the Properties panel	Which channels were ticked in the Source tree — this is run-time state only
The project name, its internal identifier and a schema version used for format migration	Any time window set in the Mark Editor — also run-time state only
The source file paths, which are reloaded when the project is opened	Sensor libraries, application settings and licence information, which are stored per user, not per project

Opening a project reloads the recorded measurement files into the Source panel. Files that have been moved or deleted since the project was saved are reported and simply left out — add those again by drag and drop or Insert → Source.

Saving a Project

Build the analysis in the Pool and check it by running it at least once.
Choose File → Save Project…, or the save icon on the toolbar. If the session has already been saved or opened from a file, it is written straight back to that path. If not, the Save As dialog appears.
File → Save Project As… (or the save-as toolbar icon) always asks for a location. It starts in the folder of the current project and proposes its file name, so saving successive variants side by side is quick.
The event log confirms Saved: <path>. The saved file also becomes the current project, so the next plain Save writes to it.

Saving reports failures in the event log as Save failed: <reason> rather than in a dialog box. If you save to a read-only folder or a disconnected network drive, check the event log before assuming the file was written.

Both commands are disabled while a pipeline is running. Wait for the run to finish, then save.

Opening a Project

Choose File → Open Project…, or the open icon on the toolbar, and select a .json project.
The analysis workspace is brought to the front and the Pool is rebuilt from the file: all stages, all nodes, all parameters. The Properties panel returns to its saved visibility.
The Source panel is repopulated with the measurement files recorded in the project. The event log confirms Loaded: <path>.
Press F5 to run. Add any file that could not be found back into the Source stage first.

Opening a project replaces the current Pool immediately and without asking. There is no unsaved-changes prompt. Save the session you are in before you open another project.

If the file has been moved or deleted, the event log shows Open failed: file not found: <path>; a damaged or unrelated file produces Open failed: <reason>. In both cases the current session is left untouched.

Recent Projects

File → Recent lists the projects you last saved or opened, most recent first, up to ten entries. Click an entry to reopen it; the same replacement rules as Open Project… apply. Saving to a path that is already in the list moves it back to the top rather than adding a duplicate.

The list is kept per Windows user, outside your project folders, so it follows the user account and not the data.
Entries are not checked for existence until you click one. A project that has been moved or deleted stays in the list and reports Open failed: file not found when selected.
Templates never appear in this list — see Project Templates.

Starting a New Session

The New icon at the left of the toolbar discards the current session and creates a completely fresh workspace: an empty Pool, no source files, no open documents and no undo history.

There is no File → New Project menu command, and the New button does not ask for confirmation and does not save anything first. Save your work before using it.

If you want a new session that starts from a prepared analysis rather than from nothing, use File → New from Template… instead. That command does offer to save the current session first — see Project Templates.

Where Results Are Written

Results are not part of the project file. When a pipeline run produces results, Deepsona writes a result bundle automatically:

Item	Behaviour
Folder	`C:\Vlisten Analysis Results`, created on demand
File name	`<source>_Analysis_<yyyyMMdd_HHmmss>_<id>.dpres`; the prefix is `Pipeline` when no source file can be identified
If that folder cannot be written	the bundle is written to a per-user fallback folder instead, so a run is not lost because of folder permissions
Opening the folder	File → Open Results Folder, also available as Run → Open Results Folder
Reusing a bundle	the Analysis Results side bar lists the bundles; dragging a `.dpres` file into the Data Viewer loads the stored curves back in

This automatic bundle is result archiving, not project auto-save. It stores the computed curves, not the Pool configuration, and it cannot restore a session. Only Save Project preserves your analysis setup.

Destination nodes write their own exports — HDF, ATFX, LDSF, CSV, images and reports — to whichever path you configure in the node. Those paths are part of the project; see Import & Export for the formats.

Two Kinds of Project File

Deepsona has two independent workspaces, and each has its own project format. They are not interchangeable.

	Analysis project	Structural workbench project
Extension	`.json`	`.vlproj`
Workspace	Main analysis window, Pool pipeline	Structural workbench (EMA / OMA / ODS)
Commands	File → Open Project… / Save Project… / Save Project As…	The New Project / Open Project / Save Project buttons inside the structural workbench
Contents	Pool stages and nodes with all analysis parameters	Active module, geometry file, test data file and its type, curve-fitting algorithm and model-order settings, frequency, damping and stability tolerances, the selected poles, the MAC matrix and the validation layout
Appears in File → Recent	Yes	No — the structural workbench keeps no recent list
Reopening restores data	Yes; the recorded source files are reloaded	Yes; the geometry and test-data files are reloaded from their stored absolute paths, provided the files are still there

Neither side validates the file you pick. Opening a .vlproj through File → Open Project… does not report a clear error — it simply leaves you with an empty Pool. Keep the two kinds of project in separate folders and use the extension to tell them apart.

Structural projects are also read in bulk by the workbench's batch reporting and modal tracking tools, which accept a multiple selection of .vlproj files and compare the modes stored in them.

Related File Types

Extension	What it is	How it is used
`.json`	Analysis project	File → Open / Save Project
`.vppj`	Analysis template: the same pipeline with the file paths taken out	File → New from Template… / Save as Template…, see Project Templates
`.vlproj`	Structural workbench project	The structural workbench's own project buttons
`.dpres`	Result bundle written after a run	Listed in the Analysis Results side bar; drag into the Data Viewer to reload
`.hppj`	An external pool project produced by third-party software	Selected as a parameter of one specific analysis node, in that node's Properties. It is not a project you open through the File menu and it never becomes the current project.

Moving a Project to Another Computer

Every path inside a project file is absolute. Understanding which paths matter makes the move straightforward:

Copy the project file and the measurement data to the target machine. Copy the result bundles and exports as well if you need the previous numbers.
Open the project. The Pool and all analysis parameters come back regardless of where the data now lives — no path is needed for this step.
Point the Source panel at the new location. The project reloads its recorded paths, so on a machine where the data now lives elsewhere those entries are reported as missing; add the files from their new location by drag and drop.
Check the nodes that carry paths. Export destinations, referenced result files and any external pool project path still hold the original absolute path. Select each such node and correct the path in its Properties.
Run the pipeline and confirm that the outputs land where you expect.

Deepsona has no project packing command and no bulk relink for missing files. A project file on its own is not a portable archive of a measurement session, and stale paths inside nodes must be corrected node by node.

Practical ways to keep the effort down:

Keep the project file in the same folder as the measurement data for that test, so the pair travels together.
Where several machines share a network location, map it to the same drive letter everywhere. Absolute paths then remain valid without editing.
Prefer relative-looking folder conventions in your own naming, for example always D:\Tests\<campaign>\<run>\, so a project moved between machines needs at most one obvious correction.
When only the method has to travel and the data does not, send a template instead of a project. Templates are saved with their paths removed for exactly this reason — see Project Templates.
A project file is readable JSON. If a path really has changed for many nodes at once, correcting it in a text editor before opening the project is legitimate — work on a copy.

File Menu Reference

Command	What it does
Open Project…	Loads a `.json` project, replacing the current Pool
Save Project…	Saves to the current project path, or asks for one
Save Project As…	Always asks for a location
Recent	The last ten projects saved or opened
New from Template… / Save as Template…	Template commands, described in Project Templates
Export Deepsona → HDF / LDSF / ATFX…	Exports the loaded measurement, see Import & Export
Open Results Folder	Opens the result-bundle folder in Windows Explorer
Print…	Prints the active document
Return to Start Menu	Leaves the analysis workspace for the start page
Exit	Closes the application, without prompting to save

Keyboard Shortcuts

The File menu has no keyboard shortcuts: there is no Ctrl+N, Ctrl+O or Ctrl+S. Use the menu or the toolbar icons for project commands. The shortcuts that do exist are these:

Shortcut	Action	Where it works
F5	Run the pipeline	Anywhere in the main window
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y	Undo / redo a Pool edit	Pool
Ctrl+X / Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V	Cut, copy and paste nodes	Pool
F2	Rename the selected node	Pool
Del	Delete the selected node	Pool

Notes and Limitations

There is no auto-save for projects, no recovery file and no unsaved-changes prompt. Closing the application, pressing the New button, and opening another project all discard unsaved changes silently. Save deliberately, and save often.
Save and open are disabled while a pipeline is running.
The .json extension is not associated with Deepsona, and passing a project path on the command line does not open it. Start the application first, then open the project.
Projects are not versioned by the application. Keep successive variants under different names, for example with a revision number in the file name, and use Save Project As… to branch.
A project stores a schema version so that files written by an earlier release remain readable. Do not hand-edit that field.
Results are never stored in the project. If you need to keep the numbers, keep the .dpres bundle or the exports produced by your Destination nodes.
The Recent list is capped at ten entries and cannot be edited or cleared from the user interface.