Wish List for PFE Features

[Anette von der Handt]

Could you add the "absorption edges" checkbox to the KLM markers in the Plot! Wavescans just like you have in the MPB dialog? That would be very useful.

[Anette von der Handt]

Two requests around Multi-point backgrounds which I am using a lot lately.

1) Would it be possible to add a "Remove Flags" option (Yes/No) to the "Remove Shared Backgrounds" feature within the "Analyze" menu?
Currently, the function removes shared backgrounds but retains the flags, which can sometimes lead to issues. I would prefer to have the option to choose whether to keep or remove the flags during data processing.

2) Would it be possible to manually select the Multi-Point option as the background type in Element/Cation Properties after searching for Shared Backgrounds? Currently, I can switch from Multi-Point back to Off-Peak, but not the other way around. Sometimes, I want to assess which option works better for a single element, and returning to MPB requires re-searching the shared backgrounds for all elements.

Thank you!

[John Donovan]

Could you add the "absorption edges" checkbox to the KLM markers in the Plot! Wavescans just like you have in the MPB dialog? That would be very useful.

It's already there, just buried one dialog deep:



By the way, this Xray Database dialog also allows one to plot user selected x-ray lines:

[John Donovan]

1) Would it be possible to add a "Remove Flags" option (Yes/No) to the "Remove Shared Backgrounds" feature within the "Analyze" menu?
Currently, the function removes shared backgrounds but retains the flags, which can sometimes lead to issues. I would prefer to have the option to choose whether to keep or remove the flags during data processing.

I can look into this.

2) Would it be possible to manually select the Multi-Point option as the background type in Element/Cation Properties after searching for Shared Backgrounds? Currently, I can switch from Multi-Point back to Off-Peak, but not the other way around. Sometimes, I want to assess which option works better for a single element, and returning to MPB requires re-searching the shared backgrounds for all elements.

This is by design because the "Multi-Point" option indicates that MPB data has been acquired, and of course with "shared" MPB samples, the data is loaded from the multiple off-peak elements per spectrometer, not actually acquired.

So you really do need to search again for the off-peak intensities to re-load the shared MPB background intensities and set the MPB flag.

[dawncruth]

Finally (!) playing with sample setups. I'm using the mother of all calibrations (MOAC) approach where I am calibrating all the elements and then building the setup from there. From a glass setup (Si, Al, Ti, Mn, Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, K, Cl, F, etc), I am flagging the Cl, F, K as do not acquire, to make a clinopyroxene setup. In the Sample Setup window in Automate it still lists Cl, F, K as present which is a bit confusing. Is it possible to add a label/flag there that indicates the elements won't be acquired? (see pic for example)

[John Donovan]

Is it possible to add a label/flag there that indicates the elements won't be acquired? (see pic for example)

I think this should be relatively easy to do.

[John Donovan]

Is it possible to add a label/flag there that indicates the elements won't be acquired? (see pic for example)

I think this should be relatively easy to do.

Your wish is granted!



Update to the latest Probe for EPMA using the Help menu as usual and you will get this new display feature.  Or download PFE from our Resources page:

https://www.probesoftware.com/resources/

[Ben Buse]

Ability to set beam current at greater than 1000nA, when looking at very low concentration trace elements in stable materials I use the highest beam current which can exceed 1000nA sometimes. Suggest maximum beam current permitted raised to 1.5uA or 2uA.

[John Donovan]

Ability to set beam current at greater than 1000nA, when looking at very low concentration trace elements in stable materials I use the highest beam current which can exceed 1000nA sometimes. Suggest maximum beam current permitted raised to 1.5uA or 2uA.

Your wish is granted!  We modified the max beam current to 2000 nA.

Update as usual from the Help menu.

[Ben Buse]

Thank you, look forward to giving it a go

[Ben Buse]

Just putting this out here, to see what people think.

We currently have a visitor using two beam setups one for pyroxene and one for glass with different beam currents 20nA and 10nA, when he automates the analyses acquiring pictures during automation, the brightness and contrast only works for one setup whilst the other setup has the wrong brightness and contrast, would it be possible to save image brightness and contrast with sample setup?

[John Donovan]

Just putting this out here, to see what people think.

We currently have a visitor using two beam setups one for pyroxene and one for glass with different beam currents 20nA and 10nA, when he automates the analyses acquiring pictures during automation, the brightness and contrast only works for one setup whilst the other setup has the wrong brightness and contrast, would it be possible to save image brightness and contrast with sample setup?

It's an interesting idea.

The imaging brightness and contrast would need to be saved to the position database, which currently has these parameters for each position sample:

Code Select Expand

With Sam
.Fields.Append .CreateField("RowOrder", dbInteger)  ' unique row number for sample index and load order
.Fields.Append .CreateField("Numbers", dbInteger)
.Fields.Append .CreateField("Types", dbInteger)
.Fields.Append .CreateField("FiducialSets", dbInteger)
.Fields.Append .CreateField("SetupNumbers", dbInteger)

.Fields.Append .CreateField("TakeOffs", dbSingle)
.Fields.Append .CreateField("KiloVolts", dbSingle)
.Fields.Append .CreateField("BeamCurrents", dbSingle)
.Fields.Append .CreateField("BeamSizes", dbSingle)

.Fields.Append .CreateField("Names", dbText, DbTextNameLength%)
.Fields("Names").AllowZeroLength = True
.Fields.Append .CreateField("Descriptions", dbText, DbTextDescriptionLength%)
.Fields("Descriptions").AllowZeroLength = True

.Fields.Append .CreateField("FileSetupNames", dbText, DbTextFilenameLength%)
.Fields("FileSetupNames").AllowZeroLength = True
.Fields.Append .CreateField("ColumnConditionStrings", dbText, DbTextFilenameLength%)
.Fields("ColumnConditionStrings").AllowZeroLength = True

.Fields.Append .CreateField("Magnification", dbSingle)
.Fields.Append .CreateField("BeamCenterX", dbSingle)
.Fields.Append .CreateField("BeamCenterY", dbSingle)
.Fields.Append .CreateField("BeamCenterZ", dbSingle)

.Fields.Append .CreateField("FileSetupNumbers", dbInteger)
.Fields.Append .CreateField("ColumnConditionMethods", dbInteger)

.Fields.Append .CreateField("Replicates", dbInteger)
.Fields.Append .CreateField("BeamMode", dbInteger)

.Fields.Append .CreateField("MagnificationAnalytical", dbSingle)
.Fields.Append .CreateField("MagnificationImaging", dbSingle)

.Fields.Append .CreateField("ImageShiftX", dbSingle)    ' change from integer for SX100/SXFive (10-29-2011)
.Fields.Append .CreateField("ImageShiftY", dbSingle)    ' change from integer for SX100/SXFive (10-29-2011)

.Fields.Append .CreateField("DriftCorrectionImageNumber", dbInteger)
End With

In addition to the other tables, e.g., Position, Digitize, Fiducial, Multiple, etc.

I was hoping that we might have had those values saved to the PCC (probe column condition) files, but I don;t see anything in the PCC file format:

Code Select Expand

"Col_stat "  ,              0
"Col_sel "    ,              18016
"Col_scan "  ,              0
"Cathode "    ,              0
"Heat "      ,              226
"Hv "        ,              10000
"Igun "      ,              80
"Gun_xh "    ,            -476
"Gun_yh "    ,              206
"Gun_xl "    ,              99
"Gun_yl "    ,              20
"Shift_x "    ,              0
"Shift_y "    ,              0
"C1 "        ,              1027
"C2 "        ,              1027
"Creg "      ,              365
"Ireg "      ,              500000
"Focus "      ,              3194
"Focus_fine " ,              781
"Focus_dyna " ,              0
"Focus_siz0 " ,              3194
"Size "      ,              0
"Asti_amp "  ,              256
"Asti_ang "  ,              3586
"Asti_off "  ,              0
"Scan_amp "  ,              0
"Q1 "        ,              52755
"Q2 "        ,              85750
"Q3 "        ,              19258
"Zdis "      ,              1258
"Reserved1 "  ,              360964
"Reserved2 "  ,              1224290
"Def      "  ,              3
"Speed    "  ,              1
"Mode      "  ,              1048582
"Probe X  "  ,              0
"Probe Y  "  ,              0
"Center X  "  ,              0
"Center Y  "  ,              0
"KikuCentX "  ,              0
"KikuCentY "  ,              0
"Rota      "  ,              90
"Rota Off  "  ,              0
"Dist(FOV) "  ,              1505390
"Dist Visu "  ,              300
"Kiku Ang  "  ,              0
"X Def    "  ,              0
"Y Def    "  ,              0
"Time Img  "  ,              0
"Time Line "  ,              0
"Time Pix  "  ,              0
"Reserved1 "  ,              0
"Reserved2 "  ,              0
"Reserved3 "  ,              0

I will need to think about it but if we're going to go to the bother of adding imaging brightness and contrast, are their any other imaging parameters that should be saved?  Also on the JEOL instrument (8x30 and later) are these imaging parameters different for the mapping mode vs. the video imaging mode?

No promises, just curious.

Looking through the code I note that we had saved the imaging brightness and contrast and a number of other imaging parameters in the .PCC files for the 8900, 8200 and 8500 JEOL instruments, but when JEOL went with the 8230/8530 and later instruments, they forced us to go through the EIKS interface.

We have reverse engineered a number of direct to instrument commands for imaging however and they could be implemented.  Please check this: does the auto brightness/contrast button in the StageMap window work on your 8530 instrument? It's not the command that we would utilize for what you are asking for, but it the same class of commands.