GC Image Users' Guide
New Features and Improvements in Release 1.8
GC Image Release 1.8 (January 2007) has many new features and improvements.
See the GC Image Users' Guide for full
documentation.
Simple Reports in GC Image and GC Project
Now it is easy to generate Simple
Reports in GC Image and GC Project. Simple Reports provide summary
information about a single 2D chromatogram, with selectable sections for
metadata, image view, blob table, and blob set table. Simple Reports
can be generated from GC Image, from GC Project, and with GC Project
automated Process Runs and AutoProcessing.
Additional Quantitation Support
GC Image R1.8 has additional support for quantitation. Processed
images now may reference external files for composition/amount tables
and calibration tables. In previous versions, composition/amount
tables were maintained in the GC Project Vial structure and calibration
tables were determined from the Batch specified in the GC Project
report configuration. R1.8 still uses Vials for composition/amount tables and
Batches for calibration tables, but
images can contain external references so that calibration can be
performed in GC Image (for a single image) as well as in GC
Project (for one or more images).
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Images associated with vials in GC
Project automatically reference the vial's composition/amount table.
(The project first must be saved to disk to make the composition/amount
table accessible to images.) Alternatively, a user can manually
indicate from GC Image a file containing a composition/amount table.
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GC Project supports the creation of
Calibration Tables from a
batch of images. Then, GC Project can be set to have images reference
the calibration file. Alternatively, a user can manually indicate
from GC Image a file containing a calibration table.
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The blob table has two new computed attributes based on the amount
table and calibration table: Amount
and Amount Source (i.e., the
method by which Amount is set).
Blob Table and Blob Set Table Improvements
GC Image R1.8 has several improvements of blob tables and blob set tables.
Improved journaling, scripting, and reporting
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GC Image R1.8 offers improved journaling and scripting.
Journals (records of the operations
sequence) can be saved (and optionally viewed) from the "File" menu.
Scripts (instructions for performing
an operation sequence) can be saved (and optionally viewed) from the
"File" menu and run from the "Edit" menu.
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GC Image R1.8 offers improved logging, set in the "System" configuration,
to track software incidents and the "Help" menu now provides a command
to report incidents such as bugs
or send suggestions.
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GC Project generates reports for Process
Runs and AutoProcess.
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GC Image allows the user to delete
the operations history of an image (e.g., for confidentiality or reduced
file size).
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The XSL stylesheets for reports
and other GC Image documents can be modified by users, for example to
include a company name and logo.
Improvements in templates and template matching
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GC Image R1.8 offers a Template
Object Table which lists the objects in the image template.
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GC Image R1.8 has improved
Template Matching Reports
with details of the matching transform and each matched and unmatched peak.
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GC Image R1.8 offers a Clear
Template Match operation to cancel the template matching (before it
is applied). (As in previous versions, the matching also is cleared by
performing matching again or editing the template.)
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GC Image R1.8 offers an Update
Template operation to transform template objects based on the matched
locations or matching transformation with the current image. This allows
users to easily correct for retention-time drift or update a template for
new conditions or columns.
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GC Image R1.8 can automatically generate
CLIC expressions for blobs
copied to template peaks with MS data.
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GC Image R1.8 can automatically generate
CLIC expressions for peaks in
consensus templates.
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GC Image R1.8 can be configured to automatically identify
marker peaks for the
blob set of a graphic being added to a template and add those marker
peaks to the template.
New and Improved Operations
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GC Image R1.8 provides local
blob detection — which allows a user to perform blob detection
on a sub-region of the chromatogram or subset of the blobs using different
detection parameters.
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GC Image R1.8 can generate polygons that delineate clusters of blobs.
The Cluster Blobs operation
partitions selected blobs so that nearby blobs tend to be placed in the
same cluster and distant blobs tend to be placed in different clusters.
Then, for each cluster, GC Image creates a convex polygon enclosing the
inscribing retention-time rectangle of each blob in the cluster.
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GC Image R1.8 allows users to
exclude blobs in a graphic
Shape. This operation facilitates scripting of an operation sequence
in which blobs are excluded and then redrawn.
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In GC Image R1.8, CLIC includes a function to compute the MS
Dot Product.
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In GC Image R1.8, CLIC includes functions for
Match, Reverse Match, and Dot
Product which specify whether the computation uses the MS of the
blob pixel with the largest TIC or the integrated blob MS.
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In GC Image R1.8, the NIST MS Search can be configured to use various
Similarity Search types.
New and Improved Visualization
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GC Image R1.8 supports interactive
interrogation in 3D view,
providing point-and-click access to pixel data and blob metadata.
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GC Image R1.8 has an option to show
1D chromatograms in 3D view on the
back-planes of the bounding box.
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GC Image R1.8 can produce 1D
chromatograms from Shapes (e.g., polygons) in the Multi-Projections
tool.
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GC Image R1.8 has a new Set
Viewport dialog that allows for general resizing and positioning.
(This replaces the resize and reposition tools in previous versions.)
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GC Image R1.8 shows m/z labels
on large MS peaks in the MS viewer.
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In GC Image R1.8, GC Project provides direct
access to the blob set table of
each image.
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The colorization tool in GC Image R1.8 shows a
value mapping graph
for parametric as well as automatic value mapping. And, Automatic
value mapping now ignores
excluded regions in computing the value mapping function.
Improved Performance
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GC Image R1.8 uses more memory-efficient data
representations consistent with highest precision of the native
data type of the raw data. GC Image still supports double-precision
floating-point numbers for high-precision data. This allows for less
memory usage, less disk storage, and faster input and output.
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GC Image R1.8 provides faster file imports.
Previously, images were saved to files immediately upon import. In
GC Image R1.8, images are saved only when indicated.
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GC Image R1.8 provides faster scaling
and sharper colorization.
New and Improved I/O Support
The people of GC Image welcome
your suggestions of new features, your comments about existing features
and documentation, and reports of any problems. We strive to make
GC Image meet the needs of our users in their many GCxGC applications.
Contents
Next: Introduction
GC Image™ Users' Guide © 2001–2007 by GC Image, LLC, and
the University of Nebraska.