Overtrace documentation

A 2-minute quick start for Overtrace: open the demo, load your datalogs, and overlay channels from multiple modules on one time axis — all in your browser.

How to load datalogs into Overtrace: supported file types, drag-and-drop, multiple modules, and how to read the confirmation toast (rows, channels, digital signals, skipped rows).

Overtrace supports Caterpillar, Waukesha, Emit, and Excel/CSV datalogs. Just drop your file in — the format is recognized automatically and the channels are plotted for you.

Use the Overtrace sidebar to overlay channels across modules: search across modules, expand/collapse groups, drag-select many channels at once, and clear all.

Switch the Overtrace X-axis between Actual time, Elapsed time, and Point #, set a From/To window, use quick ranges, zoom by dragging, and pan with the arrow keys.

Use Overtrace's Align module offsets tool to nudge a module left or right so the same event lines up across logs that started at different times.

Drop up to six measurement points in Overtrace to read exact values and deltas. Each point snaps to the nearest channel, so A and B can be different traces.

Mark events with draggable labels and freeze the crosshair readout at up to four spots in Overtrace to compare values across the chart.

Set auto or manual Y-axis ranges per channel in Overtrace, and assign channels to the left or right axis so small and large signals stay readable together.

Draw arrows, circles, boxes, freehand and text on the Overtrace chart, then move, resize, restyle or delete any drawing — and capture the view as a PNG.

One screen that reads every other Overtrace view and says, in plain language, what is worth acting on: a cylinder that has changed, a family that drifted, a trip with a mechanical signature, a stage carrying too much work, and any reading that cannot be trusted — each with a jump to the evidence.

Compare every member of a numbered channel family — Cyl 1..16 exhaust temperatures, TC-1..TC-8 thermocouples — against the family mean on one pooled range, so a cold hole or a hot bank shows up in seconds.

Read the 30 minutes before every shutdown a datalog recorded: which channel moved first, how far it went against its own noise, and whether one part left its peers (mechanical) or the whole family rose together (process). Works from the log alone — no unit profile or run sheet.

Compression ratio per stage computed from a datalog's pressure channels — absolute, corrected for site elevation, shown beside the panel's own value — with the work split across stages and checks that catch readings the machine cannot physically produce.

List every diagnostic a datalog contains: decoded J1939 SPN-FMI fault codes from Caterpillar CAN captures, split into active DM1 and logged DM2, plus alarm and shutdown flags from Emit, Caterpillar and COMTRADE logs — then click through to the moment on the chart.

Save your Overtrace chart as a portable .otsession.json file — trend view plus annotations and markups — reopen it later or send it to another licensed user.

Open a second Overtrace window on another monitor to compare two data sets side by side. Cursor, zoom, x-mode, locks, annotations and measure points sync live.

What each Overtrace plan includes: Starter ($12/mo, $120/yr) with 2 modules, 10 plotted analog channels and 10 MB per module; Pro ($29/mo, $290/yr) with no limits; and Pro Perpetual ($899 one-time) with every v1.x update included.

All Overtrace keyboard shortcuts and mouse gestures: Space to hide panels, arrow keys to pan, drag to zoom, drag-select channels, and double-click to reset.

Overtrace parses datalogs entirely in your browser. There is no upload endpoint and your files never leave your device — privacy is built into the architecture.

Fixes for common Overtrace issues: 'couldn't find a timestamp column', no numeric channels, skipped rows, dead sensors, and the chart looking empty after loading a file.