Configuration files

Configuration files control Lunascope-specific display behavior. They are separate from Luna parameter files.

They can be used to control:

• signal and annotation ordering

• colors for signals and annotations

• fixed y-axis ranges and reference lines

• per-signal user filters

• dock visibility on startup/refresh

• POPS resource locations

• output-table export behavior

• actigraphy day anchoring

• signal modulation (sigmod) rules and palettes

Applying configurations

You can load a config file on startup:

lunascope s.lst -c basic.cfg

This pre-populates the Config tab in the Settings dock. Config text can also be edited directly in the GUI and re-applied when a record is attached or refreshed.

Grammar overview

A config file is plain text. The parser recognizes these sections:

• [par] for general key/value settings

• [sig] for per-signal display/filter/modulation settings

• [ann] for per-annotation colors and order

• [mod] for reusable signal-modulation definitions

• [pal] for reusable 18-color sigmod palettes

If no section has appeared yet, the parser assumes [par].

Lines beginning with % are comments.

Whitespace around = is ignored, so line-weight = 2 and line-weight=2 are equivalent.

Example

% global options
line-weight = 2
spectrogram-dock = T
pops-path = /home/mary/work/pops

[mod]
sp_sigma ch=C3 type=amp f=11,15
sp_phase ch=C3 type=phase f=11,15 bins=pct

[pal]
fire 000000 220000 440000 660000 880000 aa2200 cc4400 ee6600
ff8800 ffaa22 ffcc44 ffdd66 ffee88 fff0aa fff4cc fff8dd fffff0

[sig]
C3 col=white ylim=-200,200 y=0 mod=sp_sigma,fire
C4 col=#4DA6FF f=0.3,35
LOC,ROC col=#66CCFF

[ann]
N1 col=#20B2DA
N2 col=#0000FF
N3 col=#000080
R  col=#FF0000
W  col=#008000

Section details

[par]

[par] contains key=value settings. These are the parser-visible options currently used by Lunascope:

Option	Values	Description
show-lines	T / F	Show y=0 reference lines for all channels
line-weight	numeric	Main-viewer line width
project-dock	T / F	Show Project dock
settings-dock	T / F	Show Settings dock
signal-dock	T / F	Show Signals dock
annots-dock	T / F	Show annotation-classes dock
instance-dock	T / F	Show annotation-events dock
console-dock	T / F	Show Console dock
outputs-dock	T / F	Show Outputs dock
mask-dock	T / F	Show Masks dock
hypnogram-dock	T / F	Show Hypnogram dock
spectrogram-dock	T / F	Show Spectrogram dock
table-allow-empty	T / F	Allow empty cells when exporting outputs
na-token	string	Token used for missing cells when empties are not allowed
pops-path	path	POPS resource folder
pops-model	string	POPS model label, e.g. s2
day-anchor	0-23	Default day anchor hour for multiday/actigraphy workflows

Note the actual keys are annots-dock and outputs-dock.

[sig]

Each non-empty [sig] line starts with one signal label, or a comma-separated list of signal labels, followed by zero or more fields:

• col=<color> sets the display color

• ylim=<low>,<high> sets fixed y-limits

• y=<v1>,<v2>,... draws reference lines for that signal

• f=<low>,<high> defines the signal's User filter band

• mod=<mod_label>,<pal_label> attaches a sigmod definition and palette

Examples:

[sig]
C3 col=white ylim=-200,200 y=0
EMG f=10,80
LOC,ROC col=#66CCFF
C3 mod=sp_sigma,rwb

Signal order in [sig] determines signal order in the viewer.

[ann]

Each [ann] line starts with one annotation label and can currently contain:

• col=<color>

Annotation order in [ann] determines annotation order in the viewer.

[mod]

[mod] defines reusable signal-modulation transforms. These are used at render time and are the basis of sigmod display.

Each [mod] line has:

• a label

• ch=<signal> source channel

• type=raw|amp|phase

• optional f=<low>,<high> for band-limited modulation

• optional bins=abs|pct

Examples:

[mod]
sp_amp   ch=C3 type=amp   f=11,15
sp_phase ch=C3 type=phase f=11,15 bins=pct
raw_c3   ch=C3 type=raw

bins=pct switches phase/amplitude binning to percentile-based binning.

[pal]

[pal] defines custom sigmod palettes.

Each palette must have:

• one palette label

• exactly 18 colors

Palettes may span multiple lines. Unlike [mod], [sig], and [ann], palette continuation does not use ...; after the first line, you just continue listing colors on subsequent lines until 18 total colors have been provided.

Example:

[pal]
mygrad #000000 #111111 #222222 #333333 #444444 #555555 #666666 #777777
#888888 #999999 #aaaaaa #bbbbbb #cccccc #dddddd #eeeeee #f5f5f5 #ffffff #fffacd

Lunascope also ships with built-in sigmod palettes. These are useful when you want to reference a palette by name in mod=<mod_label>,<pal> without defining a custom [pal] block.

Palette	Best for	Description / usage hint
rwb	signed or phase-like modulation	Red-white-blue diverging scheme. Good when positive and negative structure should stand out symmetrically.
gray	subtle overlays	Monochrome grayscale. Useful when you want sigmod information present but visually restrained.
hot	amplitude / intensity	Dark-to-bright heat scale. Good for highlighting stronger modulation values.
cool	amplitude / intensity	Cooler cyan-magenta style gradient. Useful when you want contrast without the usual hot-scale look.
ember	amplitude / intensity	Dark-to-orange warm palette. Good for sparse bright events on a dark background.
plasma	amplitude / intensity	High-contrast perceptual gradient. Often a good default for amplitude-style sigmods.
thermal	amplitude / intensity	Temperature-like progression. Helpful when you want a familiar low-to-high heatmap feel.
aurora	amplitude / intensity	Cooler multicolor gradient with a more atmospheric look. Good when you want more visual separation across bins.
saturation	amplitude / intensity	Saturation-driven scale. Useful when you want the strongest bins to feel more vivid than the weaker ones.
rainbow	cyclic / phase modulation	Full cyclic rainbow palette. Best for phase-like modulation where wrap-around structure matters more than monotonic intensity.
w10	thresholded percentile bins	Mostly black with a small white high-end band. Good for marking only the top percentile range when using bins=pct.
w20	thresholded percentile bins	Like w10, but with a broader white highlighted region. Useful when you want a less selective threshold view.
r10	thresholded percentile bins	Mostly black with a small red high-end band. Useful for highlighting only the strongest bins while keeping the rest quiet.
r20	thresholded percentile bins	Like r10, but with a broader red highlighted region. Good when r10 is too sparse.
flux	custom high-contrast modulation view	A more stylized built-in palette intended for visually distinct sigmod bands rather than a standard heat gradient.

Practical rules of thumb:

• use plasma, thermal, hot, or ember for amplitude-like sigmods

• use rainbow or rwb for phase-like or signed modulation

• use w10, w20, r10, or r20 when you want a near-binary thresholded look, especially with bins=pct

• use gray when the sigmod should remain secondary to the underlying trace

Continuation lines

In most cases, it is clearer to keep each [sig], [mod], or [ann] entry on a single line. If an entry becomes long, however, [mod], [sig], and [ann] can continue onto later lines by starting the continuation line with ....

Example:

[sig]
C3 col=white ylim=-200,200
... y=-80,0,80
... mod=sp_sigma,rwb

This is parsed as one logical entry for C3.

sigmod setup

For a conceptual introduction to signal modulation and when to use it, see the Signal modulation page.

To configure signal modulation in practice:

1. Define one or more [mod] entries.
2. Optionally define a custom [pal] palette, or use a built-in palette.
3. Attach the mod to a signal in [sig] via mod=<mod_label>,<pal_label>.
4. Render the signal view.

Example:

[mod]
sp_sigma ch=C3 type=amp f=11,15

[sig]
C3 col=white mod=sp_sigma,plasma

That tells Lunascope to render C3 normally, but with sigmod coloring based on the sp_sigma modulation and the plasma palette.

Validation rules and common errors

The parser will reject:

• unknown section names

• unknown field names inside a section

• malformed f=, ylim=, or mod= values

• [mod] entries missing ch= or type=

• [sig] entries referring to unknown mod labels

• [sig] entries referring to unknown palettes

• [pal] entries that do not contain exactly 18 colors

Examples

Basic PSG ordering/colors

[sig]
C3 col=#4DA6FF
C4 col=#4DA6FF
LOC col=#66CCFF
ROC col=#66CCFF
EMG1 col=#FF9933
EMG2 col=#FF9933
ECG1 col=#FF3333
ECG2 col=#FF3333

[ann]
N1 col=#0066CC
N2 col=#0066CC
N3 col=#0066CC
R col=#0066CC
W col=#0066CC

hd-EEG ordering/colors

[sig]
Fp1 col=#d9bd20
Fpz col=#f2d224
Fp2 col=#fedc25
AF7 col=#d98620
AF3 col=#d98620
AFz col=#f29524
AF4 col=#fe9c25
...