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File Mode

File mode is the primary recorded-file workflow in ST Inspector. Use it to inspect an on-disk MPEG transport stream / STANAG 4609 file (or raw binary KLV file), through the full desktop pipeline.

❓ What File Mode Does​

File mode lets you:

  • enter a local file path directly
  • browse available drives and folders from the desktop shell
  • reopen recent file sources
  • run the staged inspection workflow from file selection through final report
  • review playback, metadata, findings, and per-test validation status
  • reopen cached analysis data when matching archive results already exist

Only one active inspection session is tracked at a time.

📂 File Selection​

The File page accepts a local path such as C:\capture\sample.ts.

You can start from any of these entry points:

  • type or paste a file path into the File path field
  • select Browse to open the drive-aware file browser
  • select an entry from Recent file sources to reuse a previous path

When you pick a file through the browser, the application remembers the last successful browse location and reopens there on the next browse session when that location is still available.

🔍 Browse Behavior​

The file browser is rooted to the selected drive.

  • Up navigation stops at the selected drive root.
  • The remembered drive or folder is reused when available.
  • If the remembered location is no longer available, the browser falls back to an available drive or folder.

📜 Workflow Stages​

After you start inspection, File mode moves through these stages:

Select​

Choose the source file and confirm the path.

Analyze​

The application opens the selected file, runs the analysis job, and shows the resulting JSON-style analysis output together with any diagnostics reported during the run.

If a cached analysis result already exists for the selected file, the UI notifies you that the file was found in the archive.

Ingest​

The ingest stage parses the transport stream, stores observations, and reports progress, scanned bytes, counts, and notable warnings or errors.

Typical ingest output includes counts for items such as:

  • PCR values
  • PES timestamps
  • KLV packets
  • detected ingest errors

Process​

The process stage runs the enabled MPEG-TS and KLV validation rules against the ingested data.

The page shows:

  • overall progress for the processing job
  • pass, warning, fail, running, and pending counts
  • the individual tests that were performed
  • chart actions for supported result types
  • manual links for tests that have a documentation page

Report​

The report stage is the final recorded-file review page.

Use Report for the detailed layout, grouped validation results, chart and manual actions, and PDF export behavior.

Binary Raw KLV Files​

File mode also supports raw binary KLV files with .bin and .dat extensions.
Use this path when the source contains concatenated KLV packets without an embedded video stream.

For these files:

  • Analyze detects the source as raw KLV rather than MPEG transport stream video
  • Ingest stores the decoded KLV packets and builds a timeline from the available packet timing information
  • Process runs the enabled KLV validation rules against the ingested packet data
  • Player remains available after Process, but it operates as a metadata-only timeline instead of a video review page

Current limitations for binary raw KLV files:

  • timeline navigation depends on packet timing recovered during ingest
  • KLV windows are useful only when ingest can decode and time-align the packet data

Single-Packet Limitation​

A raw binary file can contain only one decodable KLV packet.
That case is still supported, but navigation is limited:

  • the file can still be analyzed, ingested, processed, and opened in Player
  • the KLV tools can still show the decoded and raw packet views for that packet
  • stepping and timeline movement do not provide meaningful navigation when there is only one packet on the timeline

🧭 Navigation During A Session​

The workflow stepper shows the current stage and allows you to reopen completed stages. Later stages remain unavailable until the session has advanced far enough to make them valid.

When you revisit an earlier completed stage after the workflow has moved on, the page shows the saved result for that stage rather than starting the job again immediately.

📊 Retry And Rerun Behavior​

  • Analyze can be run again from the Analyze page while the active session remains in file mode.
  • Ingest can be retried from the Ingest page after the current run stops or completes.
  • Process can be retried from the Process page after the current run stops or completes.

Successful stage completion advances the session automatically to the next workflow stage.

🗄️ Archive And Reuse​

File mode can reuse archived workflow output for matching files. Cached analysis or later-stage data may allow the application to reopen saved results instead of rebuilding every step from the beginning.

Use the archive-related pages and actions when you need to inspect previously processed files or remove saved results.