Data Preparation

📂 Data organization

chromatopy requires a specific organization of the measurement data of a time-course or calibration series. The scope of one analysis run is therefore eighter a single sample which is measured over time or a calibration series with multiple samples for different concentrations.

Example

An exemplary consisting of calibration mensurements and time-course data should be organized as follows:

📂 Project
│
├── 📂 Calibration
│   ├── abts_1uM.json
│   ├── abts_50uM.json
│   └── abts_300uM.json
│
└── 📂 B002
    ├── B002_12h.json
    ├── B002_24h.json
    └── B002_36h.json

Calibration data

The set of calibration data files should be stored within a single folder.
Deposit the concentration including the unit in the file name. E.g. abts_1uM.json abts_50uM.json abts_300uM.json. In this case the concentration can be automatically extracted from the file name.

Time-course data

All data files of a time-course series should be stored within a single folder.
Name the folder after your sample ID. E.g. B002.
Deposit the reaction time including the unit in the file name. E.g. B002_12h.json B002_24h.json B002_36h.json. This allows to automatically extract the reaction time and unit from the file name.

🔧 Supported Formats

Most output data from chromatographic devices is vendor-specific and proprietary. However, OpenChrom, an open-source software that is free for academic use, provides the tools to convert proprietary data from almost all vendors into a vendor-neutral and machine-readable format, specifically the Allotrope Simple Model (ASM). A complete list of supported formats for pre-processing with OpenChrom can be found here.

Peak detection and integration with subsequent export to the ASM format is the recommended way to prepare data for subsequent processing with chromatopy. For information on how to batch process chromatographic data with OpenChrom, please refer to the section Spectrum Processing with OpenChrom.

Allotrope Simple Model

Info

The Allotrope Simple Model (ASM) is a JSON-based and vendor-independent format for analytical data. It is designed to store chromatographic measurement data.

The ASM format is the preferred format for data import. It can be exported from OpenChrom and contains the measured signal and data of all peaks which were processed by OpenChrom. The format is supported by chromatopy and can be imported directly.

Vendor specific formats

As an alternative to the ASM format, chromatopy supports the import of chromatographic data from various vendors. Samples of all supported formats are provided below.

File Examples

Agilent REPORT.TXTAgilent RESULTS.CSVAgilent rdl formatted *.TXTShimadzu *.TXTThermo Fisher Scientific *.TXT

Data File C:\CHEM32\1\DATA\H 2023-07-24 21-36-55\001F0104.D
Sample Name: DFA-708-01
Instrument 1 7/24/2023 10:34:06 PM Group

=====================================================================
Acq. Operator   : Group                           Seq. Line :   1
Acq. Instrument : Instrument 1                    Location : Vial 1
Injection Date  : 7/24/2023 10:22:05 PM                Inj :   4
                                                Inj Volume : 1000 µl
Sequence File   : C:\Chem32\1\DATA\07-24 21-36-55\H.S
Method          : C:\CHEM32\1\DATA\07-24 21-36-55\H.M (
                Sequence Method)
Last changed    : 7/24/2023 4:35:09 PM
=====================================================================
                        Area Percent Report                         
=====================================================================

Sorted By             :      Signal
Multiplier            :      1.0000
Dilution              :      1.0000
Use Multiplier & Dilution Factor with ISTDs


Signal 1: FID1 A, 

Peak RetTime Type  Width     Area      Height     Area  
#   [min]        [min]   [pA*s]      [pA]         %
----|-------|----|-------|----------|----------|--------|
1   2.828 BB    0.0857 1.95364e4  3417.83057 99.52651
2   4.059 BB    0.0745   92.94276   18.85831  0.47349
Totals :                  1.96294e4  3436.68888


Signal 2: TCD2 B, 

Peak RetTime Type  Width     Area      Height     Area  
#   [min]        [min]  [25 uV*s]   [25 uV]       %
----|-------|----|-------|----------|----------|--------|
1   2.832 BB    0.0841 1090.67725  195.31581 1.000e2 
Totals :                  1090.67725  195.31581

=====================================================================
                        Summed Peaks Report                         
=====================================================================

Signal 1: FID1 A, 
Signal 2: TCD2 B, 
=====================================================================
                    Final Summed Peaks Report                      
=====================================================================

Signal 1: FID1 A, 
Signal 2: TCD2 B, 
                        *** End of Report ***

[contents]
count=1
Name=,D:\MassHunter\GCMS\RAU-R505-0.D
1=,INT TIC: RAU-R505-0.D\data.ms
[INT TIC: RAU-R505-0.D\data.ms]
Time=,Thu Jun 06 17:25:48 2024
Header=,"Peak","R.T.","First","Max","Last","PK  TY","Height","Area","Pct Max","Pct Total"
1=,  1,  6.056,  856, 860, 880,"  M ",1366398, 13751453,100.00, 63.328
2=,  2,  6.302,  899, 903, 909,"  M ",1063632,  7963360, 57.91, 36.672

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Cross Sequence Summary Report                                                 │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Sample Name     │M2_MJ_                                                    │
│                │100_min                                                   │
└────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌───────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Signal:│DAD1A,Sig=254,4  Ref=360,100                                        │
└───────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌───────┬───┬────────┬────────┬───────┬────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│    RT │Typ│  Width │   Area │ Height│  Area% │Name                         │
│ [min] │e  │  [min] │        │       │        │                             │
├───────┼───┼────────┼────────┼───────┼────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│ 0.698 │BV │ 0.4062 │    53. │ 7.2642│ 0.3671 │                             │
│       │   │        │   0992 │       │        │                             │
├───────┼───┼────────┼────────┼───────┼────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│ 1.169 │VV │ 0.8468 │  6094. │   783.│    42. │AMP@1,169min                 │
│       │   │        │   3336 │   0775│   1289 │                             │
├───────┼───┼────────┼────────┼───────┼────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│ 2.756 │VB │ 0.4315 │    14. │ 1.9341│ 0.0982 │                             │
│       │   │        │   2114 │       │        │                             │
├───────┼───┼────────┼────────┼───────┼────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│ 3.331 │BV │ 0.7823 │  7620. │   925.│    52. │ADP@3,327min                 │
│       │   │        │   7030 │   5433│   6804 │                             │
├───────┼───┼────────┼────────┼───────┼────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│ 3.974 │VB │ 1.5648 │   381. │    55.│ 2.6397 │                             │
│       │   │        │   8593 │   0016│        │                             │
├───────┼───┼────────┼────────┼───────┼────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│ 5.770 │BB │ 1.0452 │   301. │    22.│ 2.0856 │ATP@5,720min                 │
│       │   │        │   7014 │   1066│        │                             │
├───────┼───┼────────┼────────┼───────┼────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│       │   │    Sum │ 14465. │       │        │                             │
│       │   │        │   9079 │       │        │                             │
└───────┴───┴────────┴────────┴───────┴────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
┌───────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────┐
│D:\CDSProjects\JNS\Report  │     Printed:  2024-10-20       │    Page 1 of 1  │
│Templates\Export_for_      │        16:25:44+02:00          │                 │
│python.rdl [Rev. 2.0]      │                                │                 │
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

[Header]
Application Name,LCsolution
Version,1.25
Data File Name,C:\LabSolutions\0.lcd
Output Date,12.12.2023.
Output Time,11:18:30

[File Information]
Type,Data File
Generated,21.2.2012. 13:16:32
Generated by,Admin
Modified,21.2.2012. 13:33:38
Modified by,Admin

[Sample Information]
Operator Name,Admin
Acquired,21.2.2012. 13:16:57
Sample Type,0:Unknown
Level,0
Sample Name,0
Sample ID,
ISTD Amount 1,1
ISTD Amount 2,1
ISTD Amount 3,1
ISTD Amount 4,1
ISTD Amount 5,1
ISTD Amount 6,1
ISTD Amount 7,1
ISTD Amount 8,1
ISTD Amount 9,1
ISTD Amount 10,1
ISTD Amount 11,1
ISTD Amount 12,1
ISTD Amount 13,1
ISTD Amount 14,1
ISTD Amount 15,1
ISTD Amount 16,1
ISTD Amount 17,1
ISTD Amount 18,1
ISTD Amount 19,1
ISTD Amount 20,1
ISTD Amount 21,1
ISTD Amount 22,1
ISTD Amount 23,1
ISTD Amount 24,1
ISTD Amount 25,1
ISTD Amount 26,1
ISTD Amount 27,1
ISTD Amount 28,1
ISTD Amount 29,1
ISTD Amount 30,1
ISTD Amount 31,1
ISTD Amount 32,1
Sample Amount,1
Dilution Factor,1
Vial#,1
Injection Volume,20

[Original Files]
Data File,C:\LabSolutions
Method File,C:\LabSolutions
Batch File,C:\LabSolutions
Report Format File,C:\LabSolutions
Tuning File,

[File Description]


[Configuration]
# of Detectors,2
Detector ID,Detector A,AD2
Detector Name,Detector A,AD2
# of Channels,1,1

[Peak Table(Detector A-Ch1)]
# of Peaks,14
Peak#,R.Time,I.Time,F.Time,Area,Height,A/H,Conc.,Mark,ID#,Name,k',Plate #,Plate Ht.,Tailing,Resolution,Sep.Factor,Conc. %,Norm Conc.
1,0.143,0.017,0.342,1278,107,11.9230,0.0000,   ,,,0.000,4,41558.735,1.160,0.000,0.000,0.0000,0.0000
2,2.677,2.600,2.842,7633,868,8.7930,0.0000,   ,,,17.675,2267,66.156,1.540,9.621,0.000,0.0000,0.0000
3,3.113,2.867,3.492,74069,3235,22.8950,0.0000,   ,,,20.715,284,528.740,0.000,0.904,1.172,0.0000,0.0000
4,3.674,3.492,4.225,62448,1896,32.9390,0.0000, V ,,,24.632,195,767.696,0.000,0.627,1.189,0.0000,0.0000
5,4.541,4.225,4.858,61821,2075,29.7890,0.0000, V ,,,30.681,11,13168.368,0.000,0.270,1.246,0.0000,0.0000
6,5.264,4.858,6.025,591150,23289,25.3830,0.0000, V ,,,35.719,1559,96.223,0.000,0.244,1.164,0.0000,0.0000
7,6.234,6.025,6.417,69898,3040,22.9950,0.0000, V ,,,42.488,8,18539.786,0.000,0.209,1.189,0.0000,0.0000
8,6.570,6.417,6.708,51229,2962,17.2940,0.0000, V ,,,44.832,6,27270.488,0.000,0.034,1.055,0.0000,0.0000
9,7.099,6.708,7.442,271461,9085,29.8790,0.0000, V ,,,48.524,1106,135.634,0.000,0.088,1.082,0.0000,0.0000
10,8.063,7.442,8.950,2838883,74297,38.2100,0.0000, V ,1,RT8.063,55.243,1156,129.804,0.000,1.069,1.138,0.0000,0.0000
11,9.083,8.950,10.367,458569,7811,58.7060,0.0000, V ,,,62.362,26,5780.190,0.000,0.253,1.129,0.0000,0.0000
12,10.392,10.367,11.067,150804,3848,39.1900,0.0000, V ,,,71.492,1,157400.235,0.000,0.053,1.146,0.0000,0.0000
13,11.391,11.067,12.442,273652,3881,70.5040,0.0000, V ,,,78.463,96,1566.775,0.000,0.042,1.098,0.0000,0.0000
14,12.567,12.442,14.967,184099,2616,70.3870,0.0000, V ,,,86.664,13,11724.488,0.000,0.126,1.105,0.0000,0.0000

[Peak Table(AD2)]
# of Peaks,0

[Peak Table(PDA-Ch1)]
# of Peaks,0

[Compound Results(Detector A)]
# of IDs,1
ID#,Name,R.Time,Area,Height,Conc.,Curve,3rd,2nd,1st,Constant,Conc. %,Norm Conc.
1,RT8.063,8.063,2838883,74297,0.0000,Linear,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0000,0.0000

[Compound Results(AD2)]
# of IDs,0

[Compound Results(PDA)]
# of IDs,0

[Group Results(Detector A)]
# of Groups,0

[Group Results(AD2)]
# of Groups,0

[Group Results(PDA)]
# of Groups,0

[LC Chromatogram(Detector A-Ch1)]
Interval(msec),500
# of Points,1801
Start Time(min),0.000
End Time(min),15.000
Intensity Units,mV
Intensity Multiplier,0.001
Wavelength(nm),215
R.Time (min),Intensity
0.00000,-132
0.00833,-132
0.01667,-52
0.02500,3
0.03333,8
...

Filepath    C:¥Chromel¥data¥HPLC¥2_Data¥UV_VIS_1.CHL¥20.acd
Channel UV_VIS_1

Sample Information:
Datasource  BCI
Sequence    HPLC¥2_Data
Sample  A 1,0 mM
Sample Number   31
Sample Position RD3
Sample ID   20
Comment 
QNT method  20211221
PGM file    20230109
Type    standard
Status  finished
Date    02.02.2023
Time    16:12:23
Injection Volume (ｵl)   10,00
Dilution Factor 1,000000
Amount  1,000000
Weight  1,000000

Raw Data Header Information:
Time Min. (min) 0,000
Time Max. (min) 44,000
Raw-Time Min. (min) 0,000
Raw-Time Max. (min) 44,000
Data Points 26401
Detector    VWD3000.dll
Preferred Read Mode Unknown
Write Mode  Unknown
Data System Chromeleon
Version High    06
Version Low 80
Build No.   3160
File Format Version 11
Generation Type 8
File ID 239054205
File Status 16
GUID    8ce9b975
Signal Factor   0,000010
Signal Dimension    mAU
Signal Unit Absorbance
Signal Min. -2,8254
Signal Max. 576,766300
Channel Name    UV_VIS_1
Driver Name VWD-3x00(RS) Detector
Min. Step   10
Max. Step   10
Average Step    10

Signal Parameter Information:
Signal Info WVL:254 nm
Wavelength  254 nm

Raw Data:
Time(min)   Step(sec)   Value(mAU)
0,000000    0,00    0,125090    
0,001667    0,10    0,125010    
0,003333    0,10    0,124540    
0,005000    0,10    0,124710    
0,006667    0,10    0,123320    
0,008333    0,10    0,123160    
...

🌈 Spectrum Processing with OpenChrom (from Lablicate)

Info

OpenChrom is an open‑source application for chromatography, spectrometry and spectroscopy. It natively imports data from most GC/MS, GC/FID, HPLC‑DAD and related instruments, offers high‑throughput batch processing (baseline correction, peak detection/integration, reporting) and exports results to the vendor‑independent Allotrope Simple Model (ASM) format—ready for use with chromatopy.

Installation & plug‑in setup

Download the current OpenChrom release from the official site and install it.
Activate the Allotrope Simple Model (ASM) plugin (free for academic use) to export the data in the ASM format.
Add import converters – in OpenChrom choose Plug‑ins ➜ Install Converters, search for your vendor (e.g. Agilent, Waters, Shimadzu) and install the matching plug‑ins.
For ASM export, search for asm and install the Allotrope Simple Model plug‑in.

Batch processing

Open OpenChrom and navigate to Chromatogram > Batch Process.
A new window will open, where you need to specify a new Project. Afterwards, a name for the Batch Process can be defined.
Now the Chromatogram Batch Process mode needs to be defined. Depending on you data, one of the following modes can be selected. The processing might fail if the wrong mode is selected.
- WSD: Wavelength Spectrum Data
- MSD: Mass Spectrum Data
- CSD
- VSD
Now a Batch Job window is opened. The window is divided into the left side, where files can be added, and the right side, where the processing steps can be defined.
Add the files you want to process by clicking on the icon in the bottom of the left side. The files can be selected from the file system.
Add proccessing steps by clicking on the icon in the bottom of the right side. The following steps are recommended for peak processing and can be added with default parameters:
- Baseline Detector > SNIP
- Peak Detector > First Derivative
- Peak Integrator > Peak Integrator Trapezoid
- Chromatogram Export > ASM ... (*.json) then define the output folder.
Run the batch process by clicking on the Execute icon in the top right corner.
After the processing is finished, the data can be imported with chromatopy.

What if my data cannot be processed with OpenChrom?

If the OpenChrom converter for your data does not work as expected, please check the OpenChroms Issues, if it is a known issue. If not, consider submitting an issue to the OpenChrom repository.