Analysis settings, workspaces and study folders
A study folder groups source recordings, timing files, analysis settings and
results. A workspace is your current working configuration: settings,
selected analysis, batch and relevant viewing/layout state. Saving it as an
.ews file lets you return to that setup later.
Start or open a study
- Use New study in Settings to create a study folder, or select an existing folder with the study-folder toolbar.
- Check the folder-status indicator. Resolve an invalid or unavailable path before starting analysis.
- Select the input format and analysis type. A viewing analysis displays data; a preprocessing analysis may create new files.
- Open Configure Study, review the pages for the selected analysis, and press Apply or OK.
Changing study folders starts a fresh working configuration from the new folder’s defaults. EMEGS asks about genuine unsaved workspace changes first. Opening a saved workspace selects its recorded study folder. Missing folders are reported; they do not prevent the main window from becoming usable.
Which settings are used?
| Settings layer | Purpose |
|---|---|
Study defaults, qemegsdef.ini |
Starting values for a fresh working context in that folder |
| In-memory workspace | Authoritative current settings for single-file, batch and resumed processing |
Saved workspace, .ews |
A persistent snapshot of those settings, the study association and relevant GUI state |
Starting or resuming processing does not reload study defaults. Applied changes are used even if you have not yet saved the workspace. A worker receives the effective settings for its run; changing controls is not a way to modify an already running calculation.
Configure Study actions
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Apply | Apply dialog changes to the live working configuration |
| OK | Apply changes and close the dialog |
| Save workspace | Save the working configuration and workspace state to .ews |
| Save as study defaults | Deliberately replace the study’s qemegsdef.ini |
| Reload study defaults | Load the study defaults into the dialog; Apply/OK makes them active |
| Factory defaults | Load built-in defaults into the dialog; Apply/OK makes them active |
Ordinary editing never silently rewrites qemegsdef.ini. Before an existing
study definition is replaced, a timestamped copy is kept under
.qemegsstudy/definition-backups/.
Some study-wide plans have separate files: ERPERF branches and event-group profiles, for example. The workspace selects a plan/profile; it is not a backup of all study files. Back up the study as well as the workspace.
Processing settings versus display settings
Processing settings determine what data are calculated and saved. Navigator display settings determine how loaded data are shown. For example, a display baseline or visible time range does not rewrite the source recording. Similarly, the display-only reference in ICA component review does not change the decomposition. Do not substitute a display adjustment for changing a processing setting and rerunning the affected steps.
Recovery after an interrupted session
When the workspace has unsaved changes, EMEGS writes an automatic recovery snapshot after a short quiet period and before analysis starts. Writes are atomic and one previous recovery generation is retained. Snapshots are not written continuously while a worker is running.
The Recover EMEGS workspace dialog identifies the snapshot’s local date/time and the original workspace path, or an untitled workspace.
- Restore loads the snapshot as unsaved working state. The original named workspace stays unchanged until you save it.
- Discard recovery removes the recovery snapshot, not your saved workspace or analysis files.
- Not now leaves that snapshot for later and disables recovery updates for the current session, so the old snapshot is not overwritten.
Restore when you want the unsaved setup from that session. If you want the last explicitly saved setup instead, open your named workspace. After restoring, check the study folder, analysis, batch selection and processing range before running anything.
A snapshot can restore configuration, batch and layout state, plus the loaded-data/view state supported by the selected viewing mode. It references data files; it does not embed a backup of them. Preprocessing restoration does not restart its raw-data worker. Normal closing, explicit workspace saving or discarding recovery cleans up recovery data.
Recovery is not checkpoint reuse
Workspace recovery restores what you intended to run or view. Checkpoint reuse checks which calculations actually completed and remain compatible. Recovery cannot repair deleted recordings, resurrect a running worker or make a partial result complete. See ERPERF flow control and reuse.
Next steps
Continue with data import and batch processing or the ERP/ERF workflow.