APSplusMCA and APSplusMCA_GUI

Revised September 24, 2000

These programs will allow you go merge the header from the old-style .MCA files (with all of its motor, heater, etc. information) into the new .APS. This should be done from the SAM85 computer (LSX17B1PF), but it sometimes causes the MCA program to hang. If that happens, you can restart the MCA program without losing any data.

  1. If you plan to use LSX17B1PF, make sure that drive "M:" is mapped as Mpi on ‘Bnlx17. If that is not done, do it. If you plan to different computer, go to either the imaging computer (called OPTICALCCD) or the "NetMeeting" computer (called LSX17B1PE) and make sure that drive "H:" is mapped as D on ‘LSX17B1PF’ and "M:" is mapped as Mpi on ‘Bnlx17. If that is not done, do it.
  2. Load IDL using the IDL icon on the desktop. You can’t load it on all three computers, because we have only two IDL licenses.
  3. Type either APSplusMCA or APSplusMCA_GUI to load the program
  4. Go to Run -> Compile (or press Ctl-F5) to compile.
  5. If you are using the GUI version (APSplusMCA_GUI):
    1. You will see a Windows-style directory selection window. Navigate to the directory where your recently created APS format data is stored (APS INPUT PATH), and select it.
    2. You will see another one, this is for the SAM85-format data, probably on M:; navigate to it.
    3. You will see a third, this is for the destination, probably also on M:; navigate to it.
    4. Finally, you will see a list of all the files for the APS format data. Select the first one, then press "SHIFT" and select the last one. All the ones in between should be automatically selected. Press OK and you should be finished.
  1. If you are using the command line version (APSplusMCA): the program will ask you 5 questions concerning the files.
    1. First will be the path for the original files created by the MCA program on LSX17B1PF. This should be something like d:\oxides\mgo\mgo\mgo_33\. (Case doesn’t matter.)
    2. Second will be the path for the files created by the SAM85 RCD command. This should be on the VAX (BNLX17), and should be listed as "M:". If you have correctly created the directory paths on the two computers to be the same, simply press the "UP" arrow, and change the D: to M:
    3. Third will be the path for the converted files created by this program. If you want to put these files on the same directory of the VAX where the .MCA programs are, give the same answer as in 5.3 by pressing the "up" arrow.
    4. Fourth will be the 5-character name of the files to convert
    5. Fifth will be the number of the first and last file to convert (enter two numbers separated by commas). Must be between 1 and 999.

For the program to work, the filenames must be compatible. Once the program has started, if some of the .MCA files are missing, the program will use the header of the previous one and append the comment "Repeat Number n" to T2.

APS2SAM, APS2SAMb, APS2SAMb

Any of these three programs, like APSplusMCA, can be run from any of the three PCs. If you run them from the MCA computer (LSX17B1PF), it sometimes causes the MCA program to hang. It that happens, you can restart the MCA program without losing any data. Or, you can use one of the other computers if it has an IDL license available. The following two steps apply to all of these programs.

  1. If you plan to use LSX17B1PF, make sure that drive "M:" is mapped as Mpi on ‘Bnlx17. If that is not done, do it. If you plan to different computer, go to either the imaging computer (called OPTICALCCD) or the NetMeeting computer (called LSX17B1PE) and make sure that drive "H:" is mapped as D on ‘LSX17B1PF’ and "M:" is mapped as Mpi on ‘Bnlx17. If that is not done, do it.
  2. Load IDL using the IDL icon on the desktop. You can’t load it on all three computers, because we have only two IDL licenses.

    3. APS2SAM

    This program is designed to convert data from the APS to a format that is readable by PLOT85. Header information comes from the APS-format data, so if it is used to convert data from the new MCA at the NSLS, the motor positions, pressure, temperature, titles, etc will be missing. It will, however, still work. Calibration data comes from the APS-format file.

  3. Go to File->Recent files and see if H:\mca_genie\Aps2sam.pro is listed. If it is, select it. If it is not, then go to File->Open and navigate to it.
  4. Go Run -> Compile (or press Ctl-F5) to compile.
  5. Then enter on the command line "APS2SAM, ‘filespecification’ " where filespecification is the complete path and file. You may use wild cards, so if you use 00* for the extension, you will get the files from 000 through 009. For example, if your datafiles are mgo33.001 through mgo33009 and it is located on H:\Dia_edd\MgO\MgO_33, enter APS2SAM,’H:\DIA_EDD\MGO\MGO_33\MGO33.00*’ (case doesn’t matter).

APS2SAMa and APS2SAMb are obsolete, but included here for completeness.

APS2SAMa

This is the same as APS2SAM, except that you may enter T1, T2, pressure and temperature.

  1. Go to File->Recent files and see if H:\mca_genie\Aps2sama.pro is listed. If it is, select it. If it is not, then go to File->Open and navigate to it.
  2. Go Run -> Compile (or press Ctl-F5) to compile.
  3. Then enter on the command line "APS2SAMA, then the filename including the path inside quotes. For example, if your datafile is mgo33.001 and it is located on H:\Dia_edd\MgO\MgO_33, enter APS2SAMA,’H:\DIA_EDD\MGO\MGO_33\MGO33.001’ (case doesn’t matter).
  4. The program will ask you 4 questions for items to put in the header. These are T1 and T2 (from the label) and the oil pressure and sample temperature.
  5. If you use wild cards to process more than one file at a time, T1 is entered only the first time.

APS2SAMb

This replaces APS2SAMa. It is the same as APS2SAMa, except that at the command line, you enter the path and filename separately.

Go to either the imaging computer (called OPTICALCCD) or the NetMeeting computer (called LSX17B1PE) and make sure that drive "H:" is mapped as D on ‘LSX17B1PF’ and "M:" is mapped as Mpi on ‘Bnlx17. If that is not done, do it.

  1. Go to File->Recent files and see if H:\mca_genie\Aps2samb.pro is listed. If it is, select it. If it is not, then go to File->Open and navigate to it.
  2. Go Run -> Compile (or press Ctl-F5) to compile.
  3. Then enter on the command APS2SAMb, ‘path’, ‘filenames’. The variable ‘path’ is the path on the computer from which you are running the program. For example, ‘H:\TEACUP\MG2SIO4B\WADSLEYI\BETA_11’ (with quotes). ‘filenames’ will be the name of one or more files, e.g. ‘bet11.0*0’(case doesn’t matter).
  4. The program will ask you 4 questions for items to put in the header. These are T1 and T2 (from the label) and the oil pressure and sample temperature.
  5. If you use wild cards to process more than one file at a time, T1 is entered only the first time.