Step 7. Browsing and Saving the Results

The final step is to browse the output and, if desired, save it to a file (actually several files). The Browse dialog box allows you to quickly view and evaluate the results of an analysis before actually saving it to a file(s). This can save you the time of opening the results in a separate text editor or importing the data to a spreadsheet before “seeing”’ the output. Note, you can automatically save results to output files by checking the automatically save results check box in the Run Parameters dialog box and entering a “basename” for the output files. The Browse tool (Fig. 9) is accessed via the Tools menu in the opening window.

Figure 9. Browse dialog box.

The Browse dialog box consists of three main parts: (1) run list, (2) tabbed window displaying patch, class, and landscape metrics, and (3) options for deleting and saving results.

1.   Run list.–The Run list window lists the FRAGSTATS runs completed using the currently open parameterization file. Each time you execute FRAGSTATS (step 6), the results are associated with a run number. The first time you execute after parameterizing FRAGSTATS (steps 2-5), the results will be associated with Run 1. The next time you execute, e.g., after modifying one or more run parameters (step 2) or selecting a different suite of metrics (step 3), the results will be associated with Run 2. And so on for every subsequent run. To view the results of a particular run, simply click on the run number in the run list and the results displayed in the metrics display window will change accordingly. If you open a new parameterization file (File-New) or open a different parameterization file (File-Open), the Browse dialog box will be cleared of all runs and the associated data.

2.   Metrics Display Window.–The metrics display window contains three tabs for displaying the three levels of metrics: patch, class, and landscape. Click on the corresponding tab to change the level displayed. Note, the tabs will only contain data if the corresponding metrics were selected for the analysis.

3.   Deleting and Saving Results.–The results of a run can be cleared from the display or saved to file. The following options are available:

(1) Save Run As.–Saves the associated output files to a location and “basename” of your choice. Note, the “basename” will be combined with the .patch, .class, and .land extensions for the corresponding output files, as well as the .adj extension for the adjacency matrix if the save ADJ file box is checked. If you had entered an output file name in the Run Parameters dialog box (step 2), then it will be used as the default basename here; although you can change it here if desired. If you attempt to save to a file name that already exists, you will be prompted as to whether you want to overwrite this file or not. Note, saving to a file of the same name will not append results to the existing file (as in FRAGSTATS 2), because there is no guarantee that the output file structure will be the same. If you wish to append the results of several runs with identical output formats, then you should build a batch file and run in Batch mode. The results from a batch file will be output to a single file because the structure is guaranteed to be the same for every input landscape.

(2) Clear All.–Clears all the runs from the Browse window. Note, once deleted, these runs cannot be recovered.

(3) Clear This.–Clears only the currently selected run (in the run list) from the Browse window. Again, once deleted, this run cannot be recovered.

(4) Close.–Closes the Browse window. Closing the Browse window does not delete the runs or the associated data, it simply closes the window so that you can conduct additional runs. Reopening the Browse window will display these runs again. Note, however, that if you close the Browse window and then open a new parameterization file (File-New) or open a different parameterization file (File-Open), the Browse dialog box will be cleared of all runs and the associated data.