Editing the Element Table and Selecting Elements

The Element Table is an ASCII text file that provides the name and default information for each of the elemental image and line scan regions you acquire. A default element table is provided when you install AugerMap – this is the same default element table used by AugerScan.

Note that not all of the parameters listed in the element table are used by AugerMap, often you can simply leave the defaults for these and ignore them.

There are two ways to edit the element table – either by using a text or table editor (such as Notepad or Microsoft Excel), or by using the AugerMap element table interface. Both methods are described here.

Editing the Element Table in AugerMap

To edit the element table in AugerMap, choose the Element Table command from the Edit menu. This will bring up the Element Dialog. From here you can add and remove elements.

To add a new element, click the New Element button.

To remove an element, select the element and click the Remove button.

To edit an element, either double-click the element, or select the element and click the Edit button.

Adding or editing an element will bring up the Add/Edit Element dialog. From here you can edit each of the element’s acquisition and analysis parameters. If you are editing an element, note that you cannot change the name of the element. If you are adding a new element, you must give it a unique name.

Editing the Element Table File Directly

The element table file is named elem_aes.tbl, and can be found in the same directory as AugerMap.

To edit the element table directly, you need to use a text editor (such as Notepad or Wordpad), or a spreadsheet application (such as Microsoft Excel). Regardless of which editor you choose, you should be sure to first backup the element table file. Also, be sure that when you save your changes, you save the file under the same name as an ASCII text file.

Each element of the table resides on it’s own line (the first line is reserved for header information and should not be changed), and the parameters of each element are tab delimited.

Using a Text Editor

When using a text editor, make sure when making changes that you preserve the tabs – the element table parser does not recognize embedded spaces. Also, ensure that word-wrapping is turned off. When saving the file, keep in mind that some text editors will always append a “.txt” extension to the file. If this is the case, you’ll simply need to rename the file after saving.

Using a Spreadsheet Application

When using a spreadsheet application, import the file as ASCII text, and select the appropriate option for tab-delimits. There are no other field delimiters in the file. If imported correctly, you should see one element parameter per column, starting with the Element name. There should be one element per row, the first row being reserved for the column headings. Be careful when saving the file to save it as ASCII text, and not in the native spreadsheet format.

Editing Element Parameters

Name

The element name can be any combination of numbers and symbols, as long as it does not contain spaces. You can only edit the name when creating a new element.

Comment

The comment text can contain any information you wish. It is not necessary for an element to have a comment.

Peak

This is the value (in eV) of the location of the element’s peak energy. This value will be set as the element’s default peak when acquiring an elemental image or an elemental line scan.

Diff. Peak

This is the value (in eV) of the location of the element’s peak after data is differentiated. This value is not currently used by AugerMap.

EV/Step

The default value for the element’s eV/step used when acquiring survey data. This value is not currently used by AugerMap.

Sweeps

The default value for the number of sweeps to use for this element when acquiring survey data. This value is not currently used by AugerMap.

Lower Limit

The default value for the lower limit (in eV) to use for this element when acquiring survey data. This value is not currently used by AugerMap.

Upper Limit

The default value for the upper limit (in eV) to use for this element when acquiring survey data. This value is not currently used by AugerMap.

Back. E1

This value represents the high-energy (in eV) background of the element (found at the trailing edge of the peak). This value will be set as the element’s default E1 background.

Back. E1

This value represents the low-energy (in eV) background of the element (found at the leading edge of the peak). This value will be set as the element’s default E1 background.

Sensitivity Factors (3kV, 5kV, 10kV)

These values represent the sensitivity factors used to determine the atomic concentration of this element at 3kV, 5kV, and 10kV beam voltages. These values are not currently used by AugerMap.

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