Using EXPGUI
Introduction
EXPGUI allows two types of actions:
it allows the different
GSAS programs such as EXPEDT, GENLES, FOURIER,...
to be run,
and it can be used to directly modify the GSAS
experiment file without using EXPEDT.
Programs are invoked either through use of the menu bar
The menu bar.
or by "pressing" a button on the button bar. The button bar
simply provides an easy way to access commonly used
actions on the menu bar. Users can configure the menu
bar to include their own preferred actions and, with
some knowledge of the program and Tcl/Tk,
add their own commands to the menu bar or button bar.
The button bar.
Different sections of the .EXP file can be edited by selecting different
panels or pages from the tabbed list. These tabs will have slightly different
appearance depending on the packages
available with your local version of Tcl/Tk.
The panel tabs using the Tix package.
The panel tabs without the Tix package.
If the Tix package is loaded on your machine, it will be
used, but if it is not, EXPGUI will run fine without it.
This documentation will describe the different actions that
can be accomplished with the different panels and the
contents of the menus.
1. LS Controls panel
The LS Controls panel shows information about the
current experiment, typically found in the EXPEDT "Least
Squares Controls" options.
Note that the order that histograms appear in this
panel is determined by the "Sort histograms by" option in
the Options Menu.
2. Phase panel
The phase panel is used to edit information
about the phase or phases found in the experiment
file. The cell and atomic damping and refinement
flags can be changed here. Note that if a
single atom is selected using the mouse, the information
for that atom can be edited. If a group of atoms is
selected
(see Mouse Actions)
the damping and refinement flags
for all the selected atom can be changed at one time.
Note that the order that atoms appear in this panel is
determined by the "Sort Atoms by" option in the Options
Menu.
3. Histogram panel
The histogram panel is used to edit background
and diffractometer constants for a histogram, as well as
set damping and refinement flags for these parameters.
If
"Multiple Histogram Selection" mode is set to "All",
this panel is disabled. For other settings of this mode,
groups of histograms can be selected and modified
collectively.
Note that the order that histograms appear in this
panel is determined by the "Sort histograms by" option in
the Options Menu.
4. Scaling panel
The Scaling panel is used to edit the scale factor for a
histogram as well as the phase fractions for each phase
present in that histogram. Damping and refinement flags
can also be set here.
If
"Multiple Histogram Selection" mode is set to
any value other than "Off,"
groups of histograms can be selected and modified
collectively.
Note that the order that histograms appear in this
panel is determined by the "Sort histograms by" option in
the Options Menu.
5. Profile panel
The Profile panel is used to edit the profile values for
each phase present in a histogram as well as set
the refinement flags and a damping value for each phase.
If
"Multiple Histogram Selection" mode is set to "All",
this panel is disabled. For other settings of this mode,
profile values and settings can be collectively
modified for groups of histograms.
Note that the order that histograms appear in this
panel is determined by the "Sort histograms by" option in
the Options Menu.
6. Multiple Histogram Selection
This mode allows parameters to be changed for groups of
histograms.
When the "Multiple Histogram Selection" mode is off,
it is possible to modify parameters
and refinement flags for only a single histogram, but
the other settings allow groups of histograms
to be selected and modified.
(see Mouse Actions).
It does not make sense, however, to globally modify
instrument-related parameters and flags for different
histogram types.
So global actions can be limited to a single class
of histogram types (e.g. TOF, CW Neutron,...), which
allows these parameters to be set for groups of
similar histograms. Thus, if this mode is set to "All"
the Histogram and Profile panels are disabled.
The setting for "Multiple Histogram Selection" mode is
selected using the "Multiple Hist. Selection" item on the
Options menu.
7. Mouse Actions
A range of atoms or (in multiple selection mode) histograms may be
selected by dragging (holding down) the left mouse button. It is also
possible to select a range by using the Shift key with the left mouse
button. To select or deselect individual entries, use the Control key
with the left mouse button. The right mouse button selects all
entries.
8. Menus
A description of the EXPGUI menus follows along with a very
brief description of the function of each menu option.
Note that an option may appear under more than one menu.
8.1 File Menu
The options on the File menu as is the custom contains the commands
for reading and writing experiment files, as well as starting
and ending the program.
-
expnam
-
Select an existing GSAS experiment to be used
- Save
- Saves modifications to the current experiment file to disk
- Save As
- Saves modifications to the current experiment file to disk
under a new file name
- Reread .EXP file
- Reread the last saved version of the experiment file from disk.
- New_expnam
- Create a new GSAS experiment from scratch
- convert
- Convert a standard ASCII file to the direct access format used by GSAS (and for UNIX, the reverse)
- exit
- Exit EXPGUI
8.2 Options Menu
This menu contains options that determine how EXPGUI runs.
- archive EXP
- Toggles archiving of .EXP files. When on, files are
saved prior to each save or run of expedt in a file named
[expnam].EXP.xxx.gz where xxx = 000, 001 (UNIX)
or in a file named [expnam].ZIP or [expnam].xxx (Windows)
- Sort atoms by
- Determines the order that atoms are displayed on the "Phase" page
Atoms may be displayed sorted by atom number, atom type,
or by x, y or z
- Sort histograms by
- Determines the order that histograms are displayed on the
Histogram, Scaling and Profile pages
Histograms may be sorted by histogram number, histogram type,
original bank number, or diffraction angle/wavelength
- Multiple hist. selection
- When this mode is off, it is possible to modify parameters
and refinement flags for only a single histogram. For other settings,
it is possible to modify parameters and flags for groups of
histograms (see help for Mouse actions).
It does not make sense, however, to globally modify
instrument-related parameters and flags for different histogram types.
So global actions can be limited to a single class of histogram types
(e.g. TOF, CW Neutron,...), which allows these parameters to be set
for groups of similar histograms. Thus, if this mode is set to "All"
the Histogram and Profile pages are disabled.
- Override backspace
- This option is available in UNIX only, as there are different
ways that backspace can be implemented. When option is set
as "On," the backspace key is overridden to send a "delete"
character. If backspace does not work in a program such as
EXPEDT, change try the other setting for this option.
- liveplot_options
- Used to set options for liveplot,
for example, the histogram to be plotted
8.3 Powder Menu
This menu contains links to GSAS programs used for powder diffraction
analysis.
- expedt
- Run GSAS experiment editor
- powpref
- Powder data preparation
- genles
- Run GSAS experiment editor
- powplot
- Display powder patterns
- rawplot
- Plot powder data
- fitspec
- Fit a TOF vanadium scattering spectrum
- tofnorm
- Normalize a TOF spectrum
8.4 Single Crystal Menu
This menu contains links to GSAS programs used for
single-rystal diffraction analysis.
- expedt
- Run GSAS experiment editor
- powpref
- Powder data preparation
- scabs
- Single crystal absorption
- scmerge
- Sort and merge single crystal data
- sxtldata
- Prepare generic single crystal data
8.5 Graphics Menu
This menu contains links to several GSAS and
two non-GSAS (liveplot and widplt)
programs used for graphical display of data and results.
- forplot
- Display Fourier maps (set Fourier options in EXPEDT
and then compute with FOURIER
- polfplot
- Display polefigures
- powplot
- Display powder patterns
- ortep
- Draw crystal structure
- rawplot
- Plot powder data
- fourier
- Generate Fourier map
- forsrh
- Search Fourier map for peaks
- liveplot
- Create a plot of powder data
with zooming, automatic update and other nice features.
- widplt
- Displays the FWHM as a function of Q, 2Theta,... for UVWXY values input or read from an EXP file

8.6 Results Menu
This menu contains links to several GSAS and
one non-GSAS (lstview)
programs used for analysis of results.
- bijcalc
- Thermal parameter analysis
- disagl
- Distance/angle calculations
- reflist
- List reflection data
- geometry
- Molecular geometry calculations
- hstdmp
- List powder histogram data
- istats
- HKL Intensity statistics
- rcalc
- Compute reflection resuduals
- lstview
- Create a box with scrollbars containing the current .LST file
8.7 Calculations Menu
This menu contains programs for useful crystallographic computations.
- cllchg
- Transform unit cell
- fprime
- Compute f, f', f'' and mu/rho for an element for a range of x-ray wavelengths
- rducll
- Unit cell reduction
- spcgroup
- Space group symbol interpreter
- unimol
- Unique molecule assembler
8.8 Import/Export Menu
This menu contains utilities for importing information into GSAS and
exporting.
- gsas2cif
- Prepare IUCr crystallographic information (CIF) file
- hklsort
- Prepare HKL tables
- pubtable
- Prepare atom parameter tables
- convert
- Convert a standard ASCII file to the direct access format used by GSAS (and for UNIX, the reverse)
- cad4rd
- Prepare CAD4 single crystal data
- dbwscnv
- Convert a powder diffraction data file from DBWS format
- x17bcnv
- Convert an energy dispersive diffractogram data file from NSLS X17b
- p3r3data
- Prepare Siemens/Brucker P3R3 single crystal data
- sxtldata
- Prepare generic single crystal data
Neither the author nor the U.S. Government makes any warranty,
expressed or implied, or assumes any liability or responsibility
for the use of this information or the software described
here. Brand names cited here are used for
identification purposes and do not consitute an endorsement by NIST.
Brian Toby (Brian.Toby@NIST.GOV)
$Revision: 24 $ $Date: 2009-12-04 22:59:05 +0000 (Fri, 04 Dec 2009) $