Latest version changes for Probe for EPMA (and CalcImage) v. 13.8.3

[John Donovan]

Phil Gopon at Madison is testing the new (unreleased as yet) Probe for EPMA, which now includes acquisition and quantification support for six more x-ray lines, specifically, Ln, Lg, Lv, Ll, Mg and Mz.

If you'd like a private copy of this alpha release for Probe for EPMA (and CalcZAF), please contact me directly and I will send you a Dropbox link to download it.
john

[Probeman]

An important note for those updating v. 11.x of PFE.

If you already have version 11.04 (or an earlier 11.x version)of PFE installed on your computer, in addition to updating Probe for EPMA, you *must also* update CalcZAF either using the Help menu in CalcZAF or download the CalcZAF.msi installer from one of our web links or ftp sites.

The reason is that PFE will look for the new x-ray line and fluorescent yield data files and if it doesn't find them, it will create zero size files with those names and then subsequent PFE or CalcZAF updates will not over write these data files (this is in case you decided to edit them for some reason, e.g., missing values).

So just to be sure, it won't hurt to check the ProgramData\Probe Software\Probe for EPMA folder (note that it is a hidden Microsoft folder!) and check for the xline2.dat and xflur2.dat files and see if they are zero bytes.  If they are, you must delete them and then re-run the CalcZAF.msi installer.  You only need to do this once and only if you see these files listed as zero bytes in size.

Sorry for the trouble, it was an unintended consequence of adding the new L and M x-ray lines for quantification.

Thank-you to Phil Gopon for finding this issue.

[Philipp Poeml]

And how would I upgrade my existing xline.dat with all the modifications I did to the new xline2.dat?

[John Donovan]

And how would I upgrade my existing xline.dat with all the modifications I did to the new xline2.dat?

The xline.dat is still used for the ka,kb,la,lb,ma,mb lines. No need to "upgrade" anything.  The new xline2.dat is used only for the new ln,lg.lv.ll.mg.mz lines.

I should also mention that the current version of PFE now checks for missing/zero size x-ray line files and warns the user if necessary.

[Philipp Poeml]

Ok, I see, that is good news. Will you realease a xline2.dat and xflur2.dat file from time to time as it grows?

[John Donovan]

Ok, I see, that is good news. Will you realease a xline2.dat and xflur2.dat file from time to time as it grows?

They could "grow" I guess, but they are pretty complete at this time.  I don't anticipate needing to update them, so feel free to edit them as you see fit.  Here the areas you are interested in:

Table of Emission Energies (KeV)
 Element       Ln       Lg       Lv       Ll       Mg       Mz
      Po 12.08700 15.74400 16.05500  9.65680  2.82110  1.95360
      At 12.47200 16.25100 16.57200  9.89550  2.90850  2.01615
      Rn 12.86200 16.77000 17.10200 10.13500  2.99770  2.07955
      Fr 13.25800 17.30500 17.64400 10.37600  3.08870  2.14395
      Ra 13.66000 17.84900 18.20000 10.62000  3.18120  2.20930
      Ac 14.08100 18.40800 18.77000 10.86700  3.27500  2.27550
      Th 14.50700 18.98300 19.35400 11.11500  3.36990  2.34275
      Pa 14.94500 19.56200 19.95100 11.36400  3.46600  2.41115
      U  15.39700 20.16800 20.55700 11.61600  3.56370  2.48090
      Np 15.85100 20.76000 21.16300 11.86800  3.66260  2.55080
      Pu 16.30500 21.40700 21.76900 12.12200  3.76500  2.62115
      Am 16.77800 22.05500 22.37500 12.38100  3.86790  2.69160
      Cm                                                       
      Bk                                                       
      Cf                                                       
      Es                                                       
      Fm                                                       


and


Table of Fluorescent Yields
 Element       Ln       Lg       Lv       Ll       Mg       Mz
      Po    .4010    .4010    .4010    .3860    .0060    .0386
      At    .4150    .4150    .4150    .3990    .0063    .0408
      Rn    .4290    .4290    .4290    .4110    .0066    .0432
      Fr    .4430    .4430    .4430    .4240    .0070    .0456
      Ra    .4560    .4560    .4560    .4370    .0073    .0481
      Ac    .4680    .4680    .4680    .4500    .0077    .0506
      Th    .4790    .4790    .4790    .4630    .0080    .0533
      Pa    .4720    .4720    .4720    .4760                   
      U     .4670    .4670    .4670    .4890                   
      Np    .4660    .4660    .4660    .5020                   
      Pu    .4640    .4640    .4640    .5140                   
      Am    .4710    .4710    .4710    .5260                   
      Cm                                                       
      Bk                                                       
      Cf                                                       
      Es                                                       
      Fm                                                       

[John Donovan]

OK, I've released v11.06 with support for Ln, Lg, Lv, Ll, Mg and Mz x-ray lines for acquisition and analysis.

Phil Gopon (at Madison) has been running with this new version all week and he says it looks solid with his Fe-Si particle analyses...  so update CalcZAF *and* Probe for EPMA and "be the first on your block" to analyze small volumes utilizing the Ln or Ll x-ray lines for 1st row transition metals...

https://probesoftware.com/smf/index.php?topic=40.msg138#msg138

[pgopon]

Can confirm runs great on our SX5.  Just a quick note for anyone trying to analyse small volumes, there are three check boxes that you need need need to make sure are checked in PfEPMA.  Run in synchronous spectrometer mode (as spectrometer motion causes vibrations), make sure you are running everything as a TDI (as carbon buildup can have a large effect on your emitted X-rays, you can always turn it off if you notice that it isn't a problem for that particular sample), and make sure that PfEPMA does not change the beam or stage conditions prior to an analysis (as any small changes can affect your beam position).

[John Donovan]

Gareth Seward noticed that I wasn't saving the carbon calculated by stoichiometry to calculated oxygen (for example, in carbonates), to the classify .DAT files, so I fixed that and also for elements relative to another element. This applies to quant (elemental), atomic, oxide and formula output.

[John Donovan]

Please note that the most recent PFE v. 11.07 has an updated "Quick Start" manual (~30 pages), and also an updated "Getting Started" manual (~192 pages), the latter thanks to Karsten (geoman) Goemann.

Both may be accessed from the PFE Help menu after updating Probe for EPMA.
john

[Ben Buse]

Hi John,

I running v11 and this morning I run update - and on loading the program I get two error windows "InitWindow" and "MoveUpdateFaraday". Within both windows is the same message "Compoenent 'MSCOMCT2.OCX' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid"

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Ben

[John Donovan]

Hi John,

I running v11 and this morning I run update - and on loading the program I get two error windows "InitWindow" and "MoveUpdateFaraday". Within both windows is the same message "Compoenent 'MSCOMCT2.OCX' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid"

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Ben

Hi Ben,
Yeah sorry, please go back to the previous version of PFE.  Just curious... what OS are you running this on?

Find the backup msi file (in C:\ProgramData\Probe Software\Probe for EPMA):

ProbeForEPMA_Backup.MSI

and run that to restore your previous version of Probe for EPMA.

I am replacing some of the legacy controls in the PFE apps and I thought we wouldn't need to do anything special with regard to the installer but apparently we do!

You could also just try this quick fix :

1. Open the command prompt in administrator mode by typing "cmd" in the Start button "Search Programs and Files field, then once the Cmd.exe app appears in the file list, right click the Cmd.exe app and select "Run As Administrator" from the menu.

2. Navigate to “C:\Windows\SysWow64” folder and type this command line:

regsvr32 MSCOMCT2.OCX

That should fix it also.
john

[Ben Buse]

Thanks John,

Yes, I've already returned to previous version. We've running Windows 7

Ben

[Probeman]

Thanks John,

Yes, I've already returned to previous version. We've running Windows 7

Ben

Hi Ben,
So you didn't try the

regsvr32 MSCOMCT2.OCX

command line?

Interestingly enough, I just installed that same 11.07 version on my SX100 (Win7) computer and I didn't have any problem with the MSCOMCT2.OCX file.  I wonder if it's because I also have MS Office on that computer also.  Do you?

If you get a chance would you try the latest 11.07 again and this time try the above command line?  It would be helpful to know if that helps.
john

[Ben Buse]

Yeh, I'm afraid I'd downgraded before I saw your message.

That's strange - We have MS office

I don't think i'll be able to try it till end of week/beginning of next.

Just to note you don't see the message unless you tell it to connect to the instrument, I tried it on another computer - running offline no message

Ben