DATCOM import error from DATCOM 1996

Hi,

I've generated a for006.dat from the 1996 version of DATCOM and am trying to use the matlab local function datcomimport to parse the states and coefficients into Matlab (R2022a). I've received the following error below:

//===========

Error using usafdatcom

Invalid input file encountered, >>for006.dat<<

Error in datcomimport (line 77)

[casenoout,casedata] = usafdatcom(files,usenan,verbose);

//===========

I've opened up the .dat file and there are no errors in it.

Answer 1

[Chetan]

Hello @Vincent Yip,

I understand that you are experiencing an issue with the datacom and encountering an error. Firstly, it's important to note that Missile DATCOM is not officially supported by the “datcomimport” function.

It seems that the header generated by Missile DATCOM 9/02 may have been improperly generated. This could be a bug in that specific version or simply the way it was generated at the time. To resolve this, you can try copying and pasting the expected header provided below and replacing it in your files. This should allow you to continue importing the data:

1         ***** THE USAF AUTOMATED MISSILE DATCOM * REV 07/07 ***** 
AERODYNAMIC METHODS FOR MISSILE CONFIGURATIONS     

CONERR - INPUT ERROR CHECKING 

ERROR CODES - N* DENOTES THE NUMBER OF OCCURENCES OF EACH ERROR 
A - UNKNOWN VARIABLE NAME 
B - MISSING EQUAL SIGN FOLLOWING VARIABLE NAME 
C - NON-ARRAY VARIABLE HAS AN ARRAY ELEMENT DESIGNATION - (N) 
D - NON-ARRAY VARIABLE HAS MULTIPLE VALUES ASSIGNED 
E - ASSIGNED VALUES EXCEED ARRAY DIMENSION 
F - SYNTAX ERROR 

************************* INPUT DATA CARDS ************************* 

To summarize, the issue you are facing is likely due to:

1. Using an unsupported version of digital datcom.
2. Having an incorrectly generated header in your output files.
3. Encountering an error in the datcom case, which further prevents successful import.

I hope these suggestions help you resolve the issue you are facing