FAQ - Enable XML functionality
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XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a 'relatively new' flexible and portable text format for structured data. It is ideal for data exchange between different software applications and often replaces the old familiar CSV (Comma Separated Values) format from Excel. For example, all LIMS applications currently on the market include an XML import/export engine that can be used to import external data in a targeted and automated manner. Agilent ChemStation software also uses this format internally (e.g. for sequence files). For report generation, on the other hand, only output in text or HTML format or as a direct printout is supported by default. However, in order to export data to a LIMS system, for example, parallel output in XML format can be easily configured subsequently via the Chemstation.ini file. Similarly, the XML import of sample data into the sequence table is possible.
The Chemstation.ini file can be opened and edited as a normal text file using Notepad, the Windows standard editor. To save the changes, however, administrator rights are mandatory from Windows 7. To do this, press Start or <Windows Logo> key, enter notepad in the lower search field, right-click on notepad.exe and select Run as administrator. Under the menu item File|Open or key <Ctrl + O> open the file selection window, select the display all files *.* in the dropdown list and navigate to the msdchem.ini file. To be able to restore the original configuration, it is recommended to create a backup copy of the Chemstation.ini file beforehand. Furthermore, all ChemStation instances must be closed before editing. Depending on the software version used, the active configuration file is located in two different places:
- Multitechnique & OpenLab ChemStation (before 2017): C:\Windows\Chemstation.ini
- OpenLab ChemStation from Rev. C.01.08 (after 2017) : C:\ProgramData\Agilent Technologies\ChemStation\Chemstation.ini
Under the [PCS] block label, at the beginning of the ini file, you will find the entries for the system-wide configuration. The most important settings for the XML functionality are also entered here. The position and order of the entries is not critical. For better clarity, however, it is recommended to combine them. The syntax for all ini files is keyword=value, whereby no distinction is made between upper and lower case. Comment lines are marked by an introduced semicolon ;. It is important for this ini file that all path specifications end with a trailing backslash \ to directly exclude error messages. The [PCS,n] blocks are used for instrument specific configuration. N stands for the assigned instrument number (n=1 to 4) from the Config/Setup program. For instrument 1, the identification is therefore [PCS,1]. For the XML functionality, only two entries are required for the import and export directories for each instrument number. In total, the following entries must be entered additionally, whereby the values should be adapted according to the respective requirements if necessary:
[PCS]
XMLEnableImport=0
XMLEnableExport=1
XMLAutomation=1
XMLExportCopyWaitTime=3XMLExportCopyTries=10XMLExportLocalRecovPath$=D:\ExportLIMS\Recovery\XML_ExportAlwaysExtPerf=0XML_ExportOnPrint=0[PCS,1]XMLImportPath$=D:\ImportLIMS\XMLExportDestUNC$=\\labserver\gc01\datastore\
In the configuration example above, the XML export was activated, the import was switched off and the automatic XML report generation was switched on. A manual report generation is possible at any time via the extended menu functions (full menu) within the ChemStation if required. The next three export settings control the behavior in case of an error. If, for example, a network drive has been configured for storage under XMLExportDestUNC$ and this has temporarily failed, ChemStation will attempt to export 10 times at three-second intervals. After the counter has expired, the data is saved to the local backup directory if necessary. Under the export directory can be configured as the only option also a network share directly. Local or mounted drives are of course also possible, separately for each instrument number. A more detailed description of all functions can be found in the Agilent XML Connetivity Guide below.
more tips
- Convert XML to CSV
To convert an XML report into CSV format, a corresponding converter can be found in the directory ..\ChemStation\Core\xml2csv.exe. The CSV file can then be easily imported into an Excel spreadsheet.
- Convert UTF to ANSI
An XML report is always created in the Unicode character format UTF-8 in the current ChemStation versions. If, on the other hand, older applications with ANSI character encoding are to be used for processing, the format can be converted with the UnicodeToAnsi file converter, which is also supplied. Depending on the ChemStation version, the exe file is located either in the ..\ChemStation\Core or ..\ChemStation\Sys subdirectory. For an automatic XML conversion we have provided a corresponding macro including installation instructions and program file under the download button.
- XML-Import in case of dual injektor GC's
The import file (worklist) from the LIMS system is always read automatically into sequence table 1, i.e. the front inlet. To our knowledge, automatic assignment is not possible. The only remedy is to manually copy the imported sequence lines into sequence table 2 of the back inlet or to manually import the worklist via the menu function of the correct sequence table 2.
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